


Two Is The One

by EnvelopesYou



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: F/M, Hair-pulling, Hand Jobs, M/M, Making Love, Making Out, Multi, Polyamory, Threesome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-04-08 06:40:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4294584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnvelopesYou/pseuds/EnvelopesYou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A relationship that is almost too hard for most others to understand, but it makes perfect sense to you. Being stuck in the gooey center of the love of two other men in one giant whirlwind of unquestionable adoration.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! Enjoy your stay! Yep yep. It's happening.

The Summer of Arcade. The most important event in your entire life- up to that moment, and ever since. Getting exposure for your channel was good, it was what you needed- even with your steady numbers. People were trickling in every day at an even rate. You had something good here. So when that invitation to that small get together at the youtube space arrived you said yes almost immediately. This was what you’d been waiting for, and you couldn’t shy away in front of the cameras. Luckily, as well, there were a couple of ladies there to balance out the inevitable testosterone that youtube gaming brought. A problem you aimed to cull with your presence alone in the community.

You were funny. People like you- less for your funny and more for how cute you were, admittedly, most of the time. But comments were always half full of horny men so that couldn’t be helped. The youtubers that were there you were familiar with, of course, for the most part. And they all seemed to have about the same awareness of you as you did of them. 

But there were two boys there in particular that you ended up either sitting between or sitting on top of during different segments that really ended up being the best thing you could remember when you looked back. Though you never had to skew your vision too far. 

Most of the chat during the stream accused Danny of giving you those ‘I wanna bang you so hard’ eyes, and most lamented the fact that they’d never get him to look at them that way. But apparently, you found out, he did that with almost every female compatriot he was paired with. And, as he swore up and down, it was an accident! He just really tried focusing on people when they were talking or doing their thing. You still weren’t sure if you were convinced of the accidental nature of it all. And then there was Mark. Handsier than you thought someone like him had any right to be, but you didn’t mind. And that too, he swore, was an accident. Trying to keep you from falling off the couch or wobbling in your spot when you were concentrating- just looking out for you, he swore. 

But what about...   
When it happened the other way? What if you were giving Danny bang-me-eyes? What if your hands were touching Mark a little too much? Or what if Danny was looking Mark’s way, or Mark just happened to let his hands stray before pulling away like he’d touched an oven every time?   
Nah. Everyone was imagining things. Especially you. Definitely you. All in your imagination. 

The feeling was too good to let go to waste, though. Everyone was having a good time and while numbers had already been exchanged, you thought letting them slip through the cracks was a bad idea. Not with the way they made you feel. So late at night when it all came to a close you asked everyone to come out for food. As it turned out-

“I’m STARVING-“ Came from the two males you were hoping to coerce out, and disinterested tired mumbles came from everyone else. Which was fine. 

The three of you stayed out the entire rest of the night until the sun rose. When the diner had had enough of your endless laughter about stupid shit they actually asked if you were thinking about leaving- which was the more polite version of ‘get out’. You took the hint, of course, not needing them to actually get to that space and took off in Danny’s car down the highway. Down to the beach. Danny actually fought the entire way there but you promised him nothing was gonna come out of the water and grab him. Not while you were around anyway, doing all the grabbing. 

He was reluctant, but it was the only place that was completely dead. And as the sun started to rise, your legs stretched out in front of you, and both boys’ head in your lap lying on both sides, you felt a sense of elation. When the pinks and purples streamed across the sparkling water, Mark’s handed lifted upwards to point out the fluffy clouds swirling into weird shapes. You let your head fall back to look at them all, and when you looked back, both men were looking only at you. 

“Do I have something on my face?” Their dreamy smiles plastered across their tired faces suggested this was not the reason for the staring. 

“Hmf- no.” Danny caught himself in the midst of a giggle. 

“Definitely not. I think it’s just the- uh- face region. In general.” Mark reached up to ghost his hand over your face to make a point. Yes. Your face. Your entire face. 

...what? “Are you two really that tired?” So tired they’d gone loopy. 

“Ugh yes.” Danny stretched out before resettling on your lap. “Is it illegal to sleep on the beach?” Curling up already. 

“I mean.. if you want them to think you’re homeless...” You offered. 

He just waved it off. “Been getting those comments all my life. Waay over it by now.” 

“Give me your keys, I’ll drive if you can’t.” Mark was offering while sitting up. “Because I don’t know about you but I’d really like to not have to pay a five hundred dollar fine.” 

“Five hundred?!” 

Danny’s sudden yelp encouraged a very loud laughter out of you that you just couldn’t help. Soon you were dragging them down with you. “Wh-whose house is closer?” Still unable to breathe. 

“Calm down there smiley Mcgee.” Mark was teasing you, poking the side of your face which only got a wider grin out of you. One of those ones that hurt but in a good way. “Mine, I think, actually.” 

“You got enough couches?” It seemed to be the only thing Danny was concerned about as he stood on those limber legs of his and offered you and Mark both his hands to stand. 

Once you put yours and his he pulled you with a strength you honestly would not have pegged him for having. He was a tall, lanky boy, not built with muscle like Mark. So in your surprise he pulled you right into his chest- and maybe he caught Mark a little off guard too, because you both found yourself entirely too close. 

“Do you work out or something?” Asking without stumbling to try and defuse the tension as you stepped back. 

“Nah. Naaaah. No way. Self discipline is waay too hard.” He ran his hand back through his crazy, shaggy hair and gave it a shake to loose all the sand out of it.

Mark bent in front to pump his arm. “I do. Look at these guns. Uuhn!” Obviously joking but you gave his arm a good squeeze. “Oh yeah. The lady likes. The lady likes a lot!” 

To say that you were all crazy tired and getting more ridiculous by the minute was giving the moment too much credit, actually. Danny actually reached forward to give Mark a good squeeze, too. “The sir will have two, thank you!” The giggle fits started again. 

It was a day you wouldn’t forget, and certainly not one you regretted. Especially not when you all rolled up to Mark’s apartment, stampeded up the stairs at six in the morning and collapsed on the bed together in a heap. Without questioning it. It had just happened. The couch had been completely bypassed- maybe because you couldn’t all fit together, and even though none of you had thought of it that way, when you looked back you knew that was probably the reason.

Ever since the stream there was a thread that wrapped you up tight and you just couldn’t sever it. They were spectacular and silly and amazing, your boys. And that’s what they became. 

“Hey boys,” Leaning in the door of the grump space almost three years later, jingling your keys in your hand. They’d promised you dinner and you were not going to let them dick out of this one. 

“___!” Mark and Danny both shouted your name before jumping up off the couch. It looked like they were already finished with whatever episode they’d been filming, so all the less to worry about. Because if they’d still been in the middle you wouldn’t honestly break it up because you had plans. ...not for at least fifteen whole minutes. 

You stepped out of the frame so that they could both engulf you in one big bearhug on each side. Trapping you in the best part of the universe. Right between them. “Hey guys, we’re heading out for dinner.” Mark called back after they released you. Both their arms had gone over your shoulders. 

Mumbles from all the other people in the space sounded tired and pretty similar to ‘we don’t care’. “See ya later!” Dan waved to them.

“C’mon boys.” Urging them out the door. You were starving. You were always starving. Tonight was no different. 

Once the door shut behind you and the three of you were breaking down the road in record pace already, Ross leaned away from his computer. “So that’s fuckin’ weird, right? It’s not just me.” 

“Awh- just leave ‘em alone. They’re happy.” Arin responded, waving his hand while not actually looking up from his computer. 

“No- I mean, are they both dating her or-“

“Who says they’re not all dating each other?” Suzy asked, shrugging her shoulders. The nonchalance of every other person save for him was spooking Ross out. Did they really not care? 

“Well- are they?” This three-way was a little too much to process. 

“Iunno.” Barry gave about the same shrug, wheeling half away from his computer. “I’ve never really asked him because it’s really none of my business. He’s happy. Who cares?” 

“Doesn’t anybody?!” Ross must have felt like he was losing his mind. 

“Just let ‘em do what they’re gonna do. They’re not hurting anybody.” Arin said again, as if the final decision on the matter. For a very good reason. You were all like family to him now and your affairs were simply that. Yours. 

Ross sat back defeated. “I just want someone to explain it to me, that’s all. Like are theeey... both banging heerr..?” The looks that were being shot his way made him reconsider this question halfway through asking it but he struggled through regardless. He threw his hands up. “Alrightalrightalright. Fuck. I get it. ‘Shut up Ross’. God damn.” He pushed back to his computer and started typing angrily while basically every pair of eyes save his were rolling. 

Almost halfway across town already the three of you were sitting down, clinking three identical champagne glasses. “Cheers.” 

Ross’ problem wasn’t a new idea, he’d only just come to the realization because GrumpCade had started up and your and Mark’s appearance in the same room as Danny had become a more widespread matter. It didn’t take long to figure out when you were all leaning on each other or laying all over each other or holding hands. 

“I don’t think Ross likes me very much.” But the stares were sometimes too much to contend with, especially from such bright icy blue eyes. You always knew when he was looking at you. 

“Nah, he’s fine.” Danny waved it off as he picked a piece of chicken off your plate to pop in his mouth. “He’s just having a hard time processing, I think.” His hand patted your leg underneath the table. 

“It’s a shame because I’d explain it to him if Iii... knew how to do that.” Mark was laughing at himself already. Not a good sign. But this did bring up a good point. 

Whatever you three had stumbled into didn’t really have a name. It was just sort of a feeling. And that was what made it so hard. When people didn’t understand or didn’t want to understand, making it sound more like ‘yeah we’re all banging, so what’ was too difficult, because that’s all they wanted to hear. Not ‘we all love each other’, that never seemed to matter to them. Mark’s arm came around your shoulder and you sunk down a little. 

The passing waiter gave you the same look.   
Three people sitting on the same side of the booth. Girl in the middle with two guys on either side, hands all over her. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what was happening did it?   
Or maybe just someone who wasn’t an asshole. 

“I don’t want to make things harder for you both.” You could stop coming to the space, if you needed to. Your segments had ended, anyway, and they could always meet you in the parking lot. 

“Whaaat?” Both of them said this at the same time. Not an unusual occurrence. 

“You’re literally the best part of my day, babe.” Danny was smiling at you, pushing his hair back with one hand. 

“Signed and sealed.” Mark nodded. He was actually in the middle of chewing something. “Mm. For sure.” Swallowing it down with another swig of champagne. “Either they get over it or they don’t. It’s not up to you.” He made a low noise in the back of his throat, rethinking this. “Or... I think I mean it’s not on you.” 

You breathed out a little noise, a little dramatic one. “Aaah-... you guys make it sound so simple.” 

“Because it is silly.” Danny’s arm came around you over the top of Mark’s and he squeezed you close. “We’re here. We’re happy. Who cares about how other people acclimatize?” 

“Or don’t,” Mark pointed out. “As the case may be.” 

“Right, well. Who wants to think about worst case scenario you dolt?” Danny knocked him affectionately in the head while staring him down for five seconds before starting to laugh. 

“Alright alright! I get it! Super happy fun time!” Throwing his hand up in a show of no offense, please-don’t-bonk-me-again. 

“You two are the worst.” Said as you put your hands to your face, just if to hide your smile so your statement didn’t come out as false as it could have. Because it was a huge lie. They weren’t the worst. 

“You know it!”   
“We try super hard.” 

They were the best.  
And when you laughed yourselves out of the restaurant and into the parking lot under the half-starry sky, you were reminded why your life had improved so much those three years ago. You leaned back against Danny, his arms went around your waist and he rocked you a little back against the trunk of the car, humming something sweet. Mark’s hands were at on your face before he leaned in to kiss you stupid. He was really good at that. 

When he pulled back there was a little reluctance, your lips were still parted, waiting. He just chuckled, that rumbling dark noise in his chest. “C’mon greedy-Gus.”

“Does she have that look on her face?” Danny’s voice was close to your ear, leaning down over your shoulder to brush his lips against your cheek.

“Every time. I’m damn good at that if I do say so myself.” Mark was busy being facetiously-cocky, grinning like an idiot and nodding to himself. 

You reached out to poke him in the chest. “Oh please!” Now both of them were laughing at you. “Ahhuhh.. stop..” Whining to hopefully make them knock it off.

“Yeah yeaaah... let’s get going.”   
“I’m beat. Just god damn beat.” 

It was hard not to fall asleep in the car but thankfully Mark’s new place wasn’t too far. Once in, though, and on the bed, just like always. you fell asleep in that big happy pile. In the middle of them, head on Mark’s chest, leg up over Danny’s while Mark’s arm was over both your shoulders and across Danny’s. It was a big lovely mess and you honestly wouldn’t know what to do without them. It was why when people gave you those weird looks it made you feel guilty. 

But this... this you’d never give up for anything.   
Never.


	2. Chapter 2

Bacon was sizzling in the pan, shrinking more and more. You were aiming for crispy strips because that’s the way you and Mark liked them. In the other while you waited you sloppily flipped some pancakes over and in the last you chopped some eggs into yellow scramble. Danny was still half asleep at the table while Mark was pacing the room chatting on his phone. With who you had no idea. Once the toast popped you started setting plates and poured Danny a glass of orange juice. 

“Wake up,” Murmuring to him, ruffling his hair a little. 

“Mm- I’m’wake-“ He sat back stretching his arms over his head before taking the juice and downing half of it. You set a plate of toast, eggs, and pancakes in front of him and just couldn’t seem to escape in enough time to keep him from pinching your butt. 

“Don’t be saucy!” He just giggled in response to your fake-admonishing before crunching into his toast. 

You served Mark’s plate next to yours, even if he was still busy walking-and-talking. Looking up you caught his eyes and motioned for him to sit down but he just gave you the one-finger just-a-minute sign. All things considered this was a pretty normal morning and you couldn’t be too mad when they had work to attend to. “Con stuff, I think.” Danny was watching you fret over Mark not being at the table and offered this up as explanation.

“Oh.” Your shoulders dropped as you poked some eggs onto your fork and scooped them up into your mouth. It was the season and they had panels to set up, after all. You’d probably never get big enough to have to worry about that. Or look forward to it. Either way... “What about you?”

“Arin handles that shit.” Lord knew Danny took care of everything else, so that was only fair. He thrust the pointy edge of his toast in your direction. “What about you?” Sarcastically mirroring you. 

“What about me? I mean I guess I can go.” No reason not to. A lot of the people you were friends with now would be there, after all. And they were fun. Fans might even recognize you, and that was always nice. 

“Good- great! That’s great. Thank you so much.” Mark was edging down into his seat before setting his phone on the table. “Well-“ Breathing out. “That’s a load off my mind.” 

“Your bacon is going cold.” Gently trying to urge him to eat something. If you didn’t he might take off to do something else before breakfast was even over. Wouldn’t be the first time. 

“Right, sorry,” With that he took a few strips right into his hand and stuffed them into his mouth. Not quite what you meant but it did earn a smile from both you and Danny. “So anyway,” Talking with a mouth full, now, too. 

“Finish your food you savage!” Danny demanded, throwing his fist down on the table only light enough to make the tiniest tap. 

“Well soorryyyy-“ Slurring around a strip. 

“We’re not going anywhere!” You reminded him, if for no other reason than to make him stop. Watching crushed bacon chunks fly around his open mouth was probably one of the least sexy things he could do. “Swallow and then talk!” 

“Muheheh-“ Danny was already going. 

“Don’t even go there.” Giving him a dead look. 

Mark finally finished his food, swallowing loudly, slurping down some orange juice after. Then he spoke again. “Finalized the stuff on the panel. Same hall as you, I think they said.”

To this Danny just threw up his shoulders in a shrug. “I should probably know but I don’t.” Unless it was really, really important he just liked to take things as they came. Cons were probably... not as important as everything else. “At the same time?”

“Nah. A couple hours apart.” Even if they’d tried to schedule it that way, there was probably no chance in hell Mark would have let them. 

“She’s thinking about not going.” Danny accused you of this all of a sudden before trying to hide a cheeky grin behind a sip of oj. 

“What? Why not?” Mark cut into his stack. 

“I said I guess I could go, when did that turn into a no?” Apparently without your notice. Either that or he was trying to start trouble. Bastard. “But only if you guys promise to keep your hands to yourselves.” Even though they’d tried to persuade you last night that ‘who cares’ was a better mentality to carry, you weren’t convinced. And, so far, you three had managed to be pretty private about your.. well... private affairs. 

“I cannot make that promise, lady.” Danny was shaking his head fervently ‘no’, curls flying everywhere. 

“Don’t tell us you’re ashamed of us!” Sniffling a few times for dramatic effect before shoveling more food into his mouth. 

“Terribly.” Your idiot boys. “I think it’s just easier to go on the way we are and not have to explain anything to anyone.” Which would become the eventuality of pictures together. ...and you weren’t even sure you could begin to explain this, anyway. It was easier felt than explained. 

“Forever, though?” Mark’s tone slid into something a bit more serious than the past couple of minutes. He brought up a good point. Were you three just going to continue on like this quietly forever? Could you even hope to? 

“Hey, man, whatever the future brings...” Danny waved his hand, chewing the rest of his eggs before speaking again. “We don’t really have to plan right now.” That would be what he said. Unhelpful and whimsical. 

You put your elbows on the table and then your hands into your hair, giving it a good scratch at the scalp before shaking back through it. Thank god they didn’t care that you looked like a mess in the morning. Just about as much as you cared that that’s what they looked like, too. “Gotta plan a little. If I’m going.” Just a little planning would avoid so much trouble later... “Chances are you guys will be so busy anyway.” 

That was something to look forward to. They’d have signings and meet ups and panels and all that other good stuff. They’d probably have their hands full. Too full to be putting on your butt or anywhere else inappropriate. You could only hope. They both looked at each other before looking back at you, still bent over the table and pondering your potential situation. Then they reached out from both hands to brush their fingers over the insides of your arms. 

When you looked up at them, staring across the table at you, you lowered your hands into theirs and closed your eyes. Strange little triangle that you made. “It’s only your lives you’re ruining...” Trying to make this more of a joke than it was, but you couldn’t hold the smile for long as you looked between them again. 

“Anyone that really cares about us will understand.” Danny said, mussing his hair from one side to the other. He was feeling a little uncomfortable, a very common tell. 

“You’re not a dirty secret.” Mark was talking to both of you- or all three of you at that, but addressing it as one entity. No one was anyone’s dirty secret, he meant. Or they shouldn’t have been. 

You could only take their stares for so long. “Alright fine! Fuck! I’ll buy a ticket. Stop with this.” Taking your hands out of theirs so you could wave them around to indicate the gushy gooey mood that had taken over everyone. 

Danny giggled softly. “We can get a hoteeelll roooom togetheerr...” 

“Now- there are about a thousand different reasons that THAT is a bad idea.” Mark pointed his fork in Danny’s direction. 

You spread your hands out. “I can just see it now: Mark, Danny and ___ leave hotel room together.” 

“Did they bang?!” Danny asked in his dramatic vibrating tone. 

“Good god I think they might have!” Mark was joining in. There was no stopping them now. 

You sunk down in your chair letting your head clunk audibly on the table for good measure. Sometimes they were just pains in the ass. “Kill me now...” 

“A game of poker gone sexily awry!”  
“Mario Kart race gets heated!”  
“I heard they didn’t even answer their courtesy call!”  
“Naughty youtubers gone wild!!” 

You just groaned into the tablecloth while they carried on. Unbelievable idiots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the continued support! It means a lot to me! This series is a little harder because I'm focusing on three instead of two but I hope everyone is enjoying it.


	3. Chapter 3

The con had been in full swing for hours. You’d been there long enough to be both exhausted and awed by it. The longer the day dragged on the more you looked forward to one thing and one thing only. And when it came you were overjoyed. Lunch time. The cafeteria space was large and there were tons of vendors to pick from. Danny had been stuck at a signing all day so you and Mark had taken off to the court without him. One text was enough and whenever he finished up, if he did in time to catch you, he’d show up. Until then, you could absolutely not go another minute without food. 

For all that fussing, when you plopped down on top of Mark’s lap, squishing his thighs into that wire bench with a whined out ‘oof’ behind you- “Salad? You seriously got a salad??” He sounded like a mix of frustrated and amused with you. One of his hands came down on top of your thigh to stop your moving around and keep you steady.

And, yes, for all that fussing the week before telling the boys to keep it together and to themselves, there you were. Comfortably sitting in his lap like you had every right to be there. Because you did. You side saddled him so that he could get to his food, too, and then you popped the plastic lid off your deep bowl salad. “It’s got more chicken and bacon in there than I think you realize.” And also probably way more ranch than was healthy. But they’d mixed for you so nicely that you could hardly even tell. You plunged your fork down into its depths with a hardy crunch and lifted it back to your mouth.

“Did you get a drink?” He was busy unwrapping what looked like a burger monstrosity. Too much cheese. 

You shook your head, pressing the back of your spare hand to your mouth to wipe dressing off your lips. “No.” 

In response to your eagerness he just laughed and uncapped his soda. “Here. Don’t choke or anything.” 

You took the bottle and knocked back a hardy swig before pressing more food onto your fork and shifting sideways a little to hold it up to him. “Here.” You barely thought about this- or any of it, really. Sharing your food was just such a common occurrence that you didn’t register it as looking strange.

And neither did he because he was busy snapping up all the lettuce, onions, chicken and offered croutons into his mouth. Then it was his turn to put his hand to his mouth. “Too much dressing. Waaaay too much dressing.” Talking while his mouth was still full. 

“You don’t have to have anymore.” You liked it just fine the way it was. How dare he talk to you like that with all that cheese on his burger? 

“Good! I won’t! I have this manly man burger I don’t need your girly girl salad!” He brought said burger to his mouth to bite off literally more than he could chew and you burst into laughter at his struggles. 

“Ugh,” A tray clattered down in the space in front of you, Danny sitting himself down immediately after. “What is this grossness I’m witnessing?” 

You pointed with enthusiasm down at what he’d brought. “Chop’t!” He just grinned up at you before taking the lid off. “Mark called them girly-girl food.” 

“Because it is! A real man wouldn’t be caught dead with that rabbit food!” Putting his palm down on the table once for emphasis. 

“Oh are you challenging me to a manly contest, sir?” Danny’s eyes went up and straight ahead with that look of facetious seriousness. “We can go- right here right now!” 

Your hand flew over your mouth in surprise. “Are you seriously questioning Danny Sexbang’s masculinity?” Unbelievable!!! 

“Already won! Who’s got the big burger? Who’s got the girl in their lap? Me! I win!” Pumping his arm a few times for good emphasis. He bounced his leg up and down to give you a good few shakes, too. 

“Yeah?! Well-! ...shit, ___ come over here help me out man don’t just sit there!“ Danny looked like he was struggling. 

You moved to get up but Mark threw his arms around your waist. “Nuh uh! No cheating!” 

His fingers pressed into your sides, probably on purpose, and it sparked that ticklish feeling that got you squirming harder and unable to suppress the laughter that spilled out of your mouth. “Stop!” 

“Look at her! She’s laughing at your pathetic attempts!” He was only half through this statement before laughing. 

Danny reached across the table to take Mark’s burger while his hands were otherwise busy and crammed just about all of it into his mouth. All of it that would fit, anyway. And then he spoke around it. “Aw yeah- you like that? Who’s the man now bitch?! Who’s the-” And then started choking because he’d also started laughing and that was too much for his mouth to process. 

You got out of Mark’s clutches long enough to go over to Danny and give his back a few hard pats. “Spit it out stupid!” Even though you were yelling you were still sort of giggling at this giant idiot fest. The burger came out on the platter half chewed and you handed him the soda you’d been sipping on earlier. He chugged a good portion of it. 

“Aaoh- good! Just take all my stuff! Great!” Mark sat back in his chair, crossing his arms in a huff. 

Danny’s arm came around your waist and pulled you into his lap. “Well, if you insist.” 

You reached to push your salad in front of him. “There’s always girly-girl food.” Smirking at him. 

“Join us join us join us-“  
“One of us one of us one of us!” 

You and Danny just kept on chanting until Mark put his elbows down on the table and then put his face in his hands. Then came an unimaginable wail of anguish. “You guys are the WOORSST!!” 

That was all it took to settle you and Danny right into a giggle fit. His arms stayed steady around you as you both laughed until you couldn’t breathe. Mark wasn’t far behind either. The amount of looks you’d drawn and videos recording was far beyond any scope of attention you three were paying. Eventually Mark got up to sit on the same side of the table so you could all eat your girly salads together. You were feeding them both off your fork in between your own bites without thinking about it. 

This is exactly what you hadn’t wanted out in public- and yet there you were. Doing it. Like it was no big deal. Because to the three of you it wasn’t. It was just normal. Every day life. Talking about games and what was on the schedule next and videos after the big salad incident, between shared bites and sips while Danny bounced his leg up and down with you still atop it. 

The worst part of the day was rapidly approaching though, the panels. Mark’s was first and you weren’t sure you wanted to attend for many reasons. But he begged and Danny whined so eventually you and he found seats together off to the right side in the front. His fingers threaded through yours, still bouncing his leg while Mark ran in through the back once it was filled, hands spread out to give high fives to the audience. 

“Heeeelllooooooo!” Speaking into the mic that one of the staff members passed to him after he climbed up on stage. “Hi hello hi! Great to see you! Oh great dress, love it! Oh hey there!” Pointing at various spots in the audience. You leaned your head against Danny’s shoulder as he went on. Talked about upcoming projects, things he was really looking forward to, games he’d heard good things about. 

Then he asked people to form a line where someone was putting down another microphone for them to speak into. Mark sat down at the table waving the first person up- a girl in a unicorn kigurumi. She lowered the mic with a few squeaks of feedback. “Uh sorry-! Hi- hi! I watch your videos every day! Like, every day!” She seemed cute. Danny’s hand squeezed yours, as if to remind you he was still there. “This isn’t actually my real question but I kind of need to ask??” 

“Huh uh uhuh.” Mark was going on nodding enthusiastically. 

Then she half turned to you and you felt it. The moment. The moment you’d been dreading. Danny leaned over. “Are you all good friends or??? Dating or something?? I saw you guys in the food court?” 

Mark’s eyes shot straight to the both of you. “Ah- haha-“ Then he laughed a little nervously. “I mean, come on,” Waving his hand after recovering from the moment. “Who could resist a handsome man like Mr. Sexbang? And the incredibly lovely Ms. ___?” 

Danny reached a hand up to give a finger-gun-point up in Mark’s direction. “You sexy bastard! Give me room number already!!” The room laughed at the supposed joke. 

“You, me, Danny, some drinks?? Think about it!” This wasn’t technically lying, right? None of you had denied anything. And yet. You didn’t feel good about it. You weren’t ashamed of them. Of what you had. But you were hiding. 

Because it was simpler, right...?   
As the attention shifted, Danny took your hand again, smoothing his thumb over the top. “See? Not so bad.” Murmured close to your ear as you watched the line move so someone else could step in. 

The person grabbed the mic close to their mouth. “No- but for real- are you guys banging?” The room started whispering amongst themselves. You felt your face go hot. 

“Come on guys-“ Mark waved his hands a little to try and get the situation back under control. His disappointment in the crowd might have been enough to get them under control. “I’ll take all your questions about me but let’s try not to embarrass them so much, huh? Leave that to the pros.” Sticking his finger to his chest as if to suggest that he was. That wasn’t really a lie either. 

You heard clicking. Typing. Talking. The room around you was busy.  
Busy talking about the three of you. Passing around pictures and videos. This was the moment. And you’d barely done anything at all. Not argued for your own sake. Not even lied. You’d basically done nothing. And you... couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed of that. 

Not an hour later it resurfaced. This time you and Mark were sitting on the left side. But your hands were to yourselves. You hadn’t discussed what had gone on. Mostly because you needed to be in private to do that, with the three of you. “Question for Danny!” And you already knew. 

“What’s up baby girl?” Leaning over his mic with a wiggle of his eyebrows. 

“Are you banging Markiplier and\or ___?” 

The feeling you had from before quickly slid into frustration and as you watched Mark’s jaw tighten out of the corner of your eye, you knew he was feeling it too. Danny must have been, as well, shaking his hand back through his hair. “Uh- yeah. Duh! Who wouldn’t?? I’m looking at you two sexy beasts over there!” 

“We just can’t get them to STOP.” Arin drawled out the word in a sigh, rolling his eyes. You were thankful for the backup. The room laughed amongst themselves. Your relationship had been turned into a running joke. ...was that better than actually letting people know? 

But what business was it of theirs anyway? You closed your eyes with a breath out and Mark ran his palm down your leg, stopping once he was to your knee and resting there, trying to calm you. This whole situation was somehow underwhelming. You’d thought when you guys had had to come out it would be big. Part of you was glad it wasn’t. And the other-

“Dan are you dating ___?” This was the third question after the last you’d paid attention to and you just ended up shaking your head.

Arin took his mic. “Isn’t anyone going to ask me who I’m banging? Sheesh I’m feeling left out here.”

Danny giggled, smacking his arm. “Hopefully Suzy you big fat idiot!” 

“Oh- right. Shit.” He waved his hands around. “Alright alright! No more asking questions about where Dan puts his dick! Honestly you don’t really want to know!” 

“Hey thanks for the back up.” He stared Arin down before starting to laugh again.

You didn’t want to listen to this anymore. And thank god you weren’t big enough yet to have panels of your own. You could only imagine it would be full of this garbage. Your stress tried to get the better of you, but you were just smart enough to know that leaving halfway through when people were starting to pay attention would be a clear indicator. Instead you leaned back in your chair and tried to take a breath. 

This wasn’t bad it was just annoying. You could handle that. The three of you could deal with that. And if you were allowed to playfully just joke about all of it instead of confirming or denying you could really just do whatever you wanted. So in a way... this was good. Right? 

Apparently Mark had come to the same conclusion because he pulled the yawn-maneuver, with one hell of a big noise at that, before putting his arm over your shoulders. The people behind you started whispering. Was this good? Was this what you wanted? You were free now. Free to do whatever you wanted in public. -not that that idea had really stopped you at the food court. Which was why you were where you were now. 

In the end you settled back against him and let the people in back talk all they wanted. The bottom line was, whether or not it came out negatively, you weren’t going to give them up. So what did any of it really matter? People thought it was a joke, or they were all talking about how it wasn’t- either way. No one was stopping you. No one could stop you. And it was with that cocky confidence that you tilted your face to give him a big fat smooch on the cheek.

Let them talk.   
Bring it on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taking another short vacation! Thank you for all the outrageous support and love so far! It means a lot to me so please don't be scared to leave comments and things, they really make my day.


	4. Chapter 4

A lot more attention had been directed your way. Your little trio. It was more than just after-panel stuff. A lot more than ‘autograph this’ or ‘take a picture with me’. It was more. And you all couldn’t lie to yourselves and say that it was anything less- but you’d been trying to embrace it. Now that you’d started joking about it, when cameras were pointed your way hands were apt to grab, kissy-faces were made, poses were struck. So while more eyes were looking your way, you were having fun with it. Out in the open. For now, at least. The other shoe would drop eventually. 

At least a little effort beforehand had been put into keeping things still quiet, it was why the three of you had separate hotel rooms. Getting in and out of them was another endeavor entirely, however, whether or not you had something going on- letting anyone see any one of you, though the other two more than you, was absolutely a thing that could not happen. Not that they didn’t like their fans or appreciate them, but if word got out of their hotel room numbers, they’d have to change over. For safety’s sake ... and a little bit of sanity. It was why for that reason that ordering food should have been done via phone and delivered up.

...yet you and Mark had gone down to pick up a pizza from the restaurant around the corner. The convention center had felt so packed and condensed that you really needed a moment to breathe. You’d offered to go alone but he’d just come out after you and you didn’t have it in you to say no. Apparently. 

The both of you were waiting in the corner, his arm around your waist, in his other hand checking his phone. You were leaning your head back against the wall. Tired. Running mental circles all day. Pretending like things were fine. You’d be glad to actually be home in your own bed- or one of the boys’. It wasn’t like it was any less home. 

“Oooo!” That had been the telltale sign of fans approaching since roughly ten in the morning. “Markiplier! Can I get a picture??” It was just one girl, she didn’t look any older than you. And almost just about as tired.

He stepped away and put his hands up. “Yeah! Sure! Get over here!” He ducked down in front of her giving two thumbs up as she held the phone at arm’s length to snap a quick picture. You were standing behind them but no doubt he was making a stupid face. One of his best qualities. 

“Thanks! Thank you so much.” When he stood up she looked over at you. “Oh, hi! Sorry. Didn’t mean to bother you two.” You just shrugged and shook your head. “Is Danny around, too?” 

You knew exactly where Danny was. In the hotel room. Waiting for the both of you. Probably face down in the bed asleep. But the fact that this girl was asking... was that something you should get used to? Now everyone was associating you three as a real couple. Like you should know. “Oh- probably with the Grumps?” Trying to make it sound convincing. 

She smiled. “That’s okay-“ Mark stepped back to your side and she looked at the both of you. “Look. I know it’s probably not very fun. Or nice. Or easy or- ugh I’m getting tongue tied.” Shaking her hands in her face as if to cool off. “Having everyone looking at you guys is probably not great. But just know that there are a lot of us out there that support the polyamory thing.” 

Polyamory.  
A word you’d very briefly looked up before deciding your love life, and life in general, was easier when you didn’t have to worry about the labels. But that’s what it was. As far as you knew. To think there was even a word for it. What a time to be alive. You were looking at her- but Mark was looking at you. Trying to get a read on the situation. Or what you were feeling about it. No doubt he was ready to spew a thousand words to make this go away but... 

“If that’s what it is, anyway! Just saying!” She added in quickly. Just in case you three were really just joking. Even though you weren’t. “But- and don’t take this the wrong way- I think it’d be really great if you guys came out about it. It might help a lot of people.” 

Someone had done this to Arin a little while ago. Tried to force something out of him. Regardless of the intention, and whether it was right or wrong in any case.. it never felt very good. You understood that there were probably millions of people struggling with different identities on a regular basis. But polyamory? That didn’t really need a spokesperson did it? Or a team, as the case was. And all of you were idiots. Really... best to let someone else handle that.. 

“Danny’s way into the free love, you should be telling him this! Sexbang and all-“ Free love. That wasn’t what it was. And even though Mark knew that by now, knew what this was, knew the feeling, lived it day to day with you... even if he was just saying this to make it go away, it rubbed you so wrong. Especially knowing that that was exactly what people thought of it. And that wasn’t it. 

The girl laughed awkwardly. A dry nervous sound. “Yeah. Well. Sorry to take your time up! Enjoy your night!” 

Mark waved after her with his usual ‘buh-bye’ and once she was out the door his hand dropped and he wilted against the wall. “Man you didn’t say it was gonna be so much wooork.” 

“I warned you. Did I not warn you?” Because you had. You’d told those stupid boys that this was a mistake. 

“Awf,” He swooped you up in his arms with a loose hug. “Someone’s being grumpyyyy.” 

Surely after you got some food and sleep you’d feel better. And as luck would have it, they called your half-pepperoni half-cheese, you picked up a two liter, paid and were on your way in just another moment. The hardest part of all was coming up. Sneaking back upstairs without notice. The both of you walked quickly but very calmly, and very quietly through the front entrance. Tried to listen to the noises going on before getting straight into the elevator and jamming the door close button before anyone else could come in. Then when you got upstairs to your floor you poked your head out of the elevator and then motioned for him to follow behind you. Again just as quickly and quickly. And once to the door you swiped the borrowed room card, practically threw him inside, and then closed it behind with a breath out.

It almost felt like being a super secret spy. With admittedly a little less at stake. 

As expected, Danny was face down in the bed, snoring lightly. While Mark set the pie down on the top of the dresser against the wall, you sat down on the bed, combing your hand back through his hair. “Danny,” Calling to him softly. It had been such a long day that you thought about just letting him sleep but... he really should eat something, you knew. 

When he was completely unresponsive Mark came over to squeeze his shoulder. “Hey food’s here.” That got a little gurgle out of him. “Come ooonnn...” Mark ended up laughing at himself but you heard a little giggle from Danny next. 

Then he sat up, scratching his hands back through his hair with a good shake. “Any problems?” He stretched his arms over his head. 

“Nah.” Mark answered nearly immediately and you shot him a look. “Na...ah?” 

Danny looked between the two of you. “Uh oh. What happened?” 

You just threw your hands up and went to go plate some slices. Mark sat down next to Danny on the bed. “I dunno. A girl asked for a picture and then tried to persuade us that coming out as polyamorous would be for the good of mankind. Or something.” 

“Polyamorous?” It wasn’t strange that Danny had never heard the term. You were almost surprised that Mark even knew what it meant. Regardless of the obvious context. 

“Apparently,” You said, turning back with three plates, “Mark thinks that means free love.” 

Danny arched a brow. “What is this? The 60s?” Airily laughing once after you handed him his pizza. 

Mark just rolled his eyes. “C’mon, you know I didn’t- ...I didn’t mean it like that!” You handed him his plate and then sat down on the edge of the bed. “It just came out. I didn’t know what to say about it.” 

Which was ... apt. None of you knew. That was why it was better to keep quiet about it. But that option seemed to be driving further and further away. It was almost completely gone by this point. Danny was in the middle of a bite when he circled his free hand between the three of you- “So is that what this is?” 

You’d all been so content to never talk about your relationship like this before. You hadn’t really wanted to change that. “Yeah.” You sighed out. “I guess. I don’t know.” 

“I vote for I don’t know.” Mark said after swallowing. 

“I also vote for don’t know shit.” Danny nodded conclusively. 

For the first time in a long few hours you felt yourself smiling. This was what you wanted. The ‘I don’t know and don’t care’ club back in full force. It didn’t need labels. You were glad they thought so too. They shifted back on the bed so that you could crawl up between them and continue eating. 

Danny picked up the remote from the night table and turned on the TV, surfing a few channels before stopping- “Who’s up for half of The Muppet Movie?” Giggling to himself as he set the remote down. 

No one was going to argue the point when you were all so exhausted. One more day, hopefully of simply just enjoying the convention and not actually doing much else besides that, and then you could return home. With half a finished pizza slice in your hand and two boys on both your sides, the muppets singing about something or other, you actually dozed off. 

“-dy-“ Someone was trying to gently shake you awake. 

“-‘mon,” No. The both of them. 

It was almost too hard to rouse yourself and you absolutely groaned your displeasure. “Can I please sleep?” 

“Weren’t you the one saying to be careful?” Mark was the one asking, though you couldn’t see him in the dark of the room. Apparently at some point they’d turned off the room light and also fallen asleep next to you. The clock in the room was reading three A.M. 

The worst part was that he was right. The hallway would be packed in the morning. People hanging around, looking. Last day of the con, as well, there was no incentive to stay secret about room situations. But if you all came out of the same room that was pretty much it for joking about it. And you weren’t sure you could handle another plea for the call to action that was polyamory. 

Your room was actually a floor down. Mark’s was down the hall. “Alrightalright... I’m going.” You didn’t really want to get back into the elevator and mosey on down to your room. This bed was much comfier- and much more like home. 

“I’ll walk you.” Mark was offering since Danny had all but stretched out on the bed and gone back to sleep already. 

“-f you two bang I wanna hear about it.” You couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not, talking into the pillow with a slur. 

“I’ll write all about it in my sex journal.” Mocking him as you took Mark’s hand in your own and slipped out of the room. Thankfully the hotel was dead quiet. 

No worrying too much about people walking around. Fans coming up for stuff. Taking pictures when you weren’t paying attention. Not that the internet wasn’t plastered with them already. All sorts. You, Danny, and Mark. All together or in duos. The secret was getting out and soon it wouldn’t be just a ‘joke’ anymore. 

Once down a floor and inside your room, Mark hung in the doorway. “Do you really have a sex journal?” 

“Oh yeah.” Sleepily joking with much the same smile on your face. “Don’t you? Danny and I compare notes all the time.” 

“What kinda notes?” Grinning widely. 

You trailed the tip of your finger down from his temple, over his cheek and under his chin. “What moves he knows that you don’t. Usually.” 

“Pshaw- that old man? Can’t be better than this raw power!” He brought his arms down to flex. 

You couldn’t contain the laugh that spilled out of you before you slapped your hand over his mouth. “Shh! People are trying to sleep!” 

He wiggled his eyebrows and leaned his head down to slip his glasses down his nose purposely. “Are you?” Asked through your hand. 

“Not sure yet.” You stepped back a little, holding the door. “Wanna come in?” 

His grin turned lopsided. “But what will we tell Danny?” 

“We’ll have to do something to tell him about first.” 

He stepped in and closed the door behind him, the wash of lights in the hallway dying, leaving the two of you in the darkness. “Let’s start with this...” He’d lowered his voice and though you couldn’t quite see him.. you could hear the smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm!


	5. Chapter 5

You didn’t need light to see- or to feel. Neither did he. His hands were on your face, sliding back into your hair, touching down your spine. Keeping you afloat just before edging you carefully to lean back on the bed so that he could hold himself over you. Kissing you. Terribly afraid to break back from it. You felt his fingers glide across your cheek before they left and then you heard the clatter of his glasses on the table beside the bed. Too much tension for one day. Stress and nerves were washed away by the calmness of his demeanor. Even though it was late and you had an early start tomorrow, he wanted to take his time.

Mark was always this way. On a slow and careful trek to make sure he got every moment right. Made you feel fireworks. It was hard, though, to respond the way he wanted you to, when you were becoming impatient. Not for his lack of effort but because you needed so badly. Honestly, you never struck yourself as a jealous person, but he’d been in so many other men and women’s arms today. Hugged and kissed on the cheek and touched...

You slid your hands under his shirt with a silent beg for him to take it off. When he leaned back away to do just that you felt that slightest sense of relief. Especially as your phone lit up inside your pocket, even hidden away tinging the darkness that surrounded you. And when you took it out you used that bright white to illuminate Mark’s body. He was grinning down at you, incredible bastard that he was.

“Is that-?” You both knew who it was. The only reason he was asking was probably to get his husky tone just about right before letting go of one of those damnably dark chuckles. The night brought something else out in him that you always looked forward to.

“Yeah.” Angling the phone away while he sat back on his legs. Danny. Of course.

And even more predictably-

**> Are you two banging or what?**

He’d probably been waiting to see if Mark was coming back any time soon. Or had been watching the hallway. Decided he was spending just a little too much time, and he knew why.

Mark ran his fingers back through his hair, mussing the top up. “You gonna answer?”

“If I don’t he’ll just come down here anyway.” There was no way he’d assume you two had fallen asleep. Danny wasn’t stupid, after all. And it was almost like he’d developed a second sense for these sorts of things.

“He’s gonna come down if you tell him.” He was entirely unbothered in saying this. Invite one more to the party. But you’d assumed Danny had been dead tired. He’d been practically asleep when you’d both left.

And yet...

**> You’re interrupting**

It was bad when you were giggling at your own response, but you held the phone out to Mark who had to severely squint to have any hope of seeing it. Then when you felt it vibrate in your hand he tilted his head back with a hearty one-note laugh.

**> Well fucking EXCUSE MEEE**

He took the phone out of your hand and placed it face down on the table. Then he leaned back in, his lips against yours for a brief kiss. He only parted to say, “Let’s see how long it takes him.” Start the proverbial clock. You had bets on about two minutes. Until then Mark was satisfied with his time alone, tracing the tips of his fingers up your sides, lifting your shirt with the barest need of help before taking it from you completely.

Then his lips were a constant fluttery feeling down over your shoulders, between your breasts, over your navel. Your hips had started squirming already. “ _Mm_...” Breathing out as you reached up with one hand to try and touch whatever part of him was closest. It happened to be his bare shoulder and you tried to encourage him closer for another deep kiss.

Just as he came back closer, you breathed him in, your lips touched-

And then there was a series of pounding at your door. You felt Mark’s lips curve into a smile against yours. “Wonder whooo...” He backed away, leaving you leaning up on your elbows to try and watch. When he opened the door you could see much better, the hallway lights spilling in. Mark put his arm up along the door in a casual lean, shirtless and all. “Yello there. Wasn’t expecting you.”

Danny tried to lean in. “Am I interrupting now??”

“What does it look like?” Trying not to be too loud, still not wanting to attract attention even if everyone was surely asleep at this hour.

The entire mood froze as the elevator closest to your room dinged, signifying someone was getting off. Danny jumped in a panic and scurried into the room. Mark shut the door quietly and pressed himself up against it. As if whomever it was was about to bust in. He watched through the peephole-

But your attention was stolen away as Danny padded over, went on his knees in front of the bed, took your face in his hands and kissed you hard. His passion was a force to be reckoned with. You half-smiled but the expression melted away the longer it went on. Your hands went into his hair, pulling him closer on the bed.

“I think th- hey!” Having adjusted to the light or not, Mark clearly knew what was going on.

“Interrupting,” You spoke around Danny’s lips as they tried to coax you back in, “-yes-“

“You don’t seem to mind.” He hummed before tilting sideways to smooth his lips over your jawline, hand pressing in between your legs, eliciting a shower of sparks.

“I do!” Mark was standing on the side now, and by his tone of voice even though you couldn’t see his hands had probably gone to his hips in dramatic fashion. You patted the side of the bed, inviting him, but, “Nuh-uh! You!” He reached over, taking Danny’s hair in one hand, right at the back of his head, with probably just the right amount of force-

Because Danny breathed out something hot and almost-a-word into the side of your neck. Probably ‘fuck’. One of his favorite ones. “Switch places.” You murmured, trying to keep the momentum moving. And Danny was in no position to say no. He moved to sit next to you, back against the headboard and you settled back in, running your hands over his face and taking him in another kiss as Mark got back on the bed in between your legs.

It was all over after that. They overwhelmed you from every angle. Danny’s tongue smoothed against yours, while his fingers were quick in removing your bra, cupping your breasts in his hands. Squeezing. Gently gliding his thumbs upwards. Mark’s lips were at your neck, teasing, still careful, still determined. The graze of his teeth in a sweet slide against your skin dragged a shiver out of you and into Danny’s mouth.

The three-belt-shuffle happened at almost exactly the same time. Leather and fabric groaned before metal clips tinged the air. You were busy trying to work Danny’s off at the odd angle and he was half leaning to try and pull yours off. Mark made himself busy with his own. Though it had started at the same time, as usual it didn’t end in the same rhythmic fashion. You got Danny’s off first, Mark got his off next and Danny still struggled with yours. It became worse when you wasted no time in getting your hand into his boxers and edging them off his hips. Just enough to tease him with a slide of your fingers down his cock.

“Haa-h _fuck_ -“ Groaned into the darkness, his lips lazing along the side of your shoulder as he forgot what he was doing.

“I got it-“ You could practically hear Mark’s eye roll with that accompanied smile. He got your belt off after a good swat of Danny’s hands to get them away and then lifted your hips for you to peel your pants off. He leaned in to kiss you gently as he edged two fingers up inside you, crooking the tips lightly.

Pulling a quiet moan out of you, one that almost mingled with the one Danny let go of, close to your ear as you took his cock tightly in his hand with a firm few strokes. Mark didn’t stay with you for too long, sitting back so that he could get his pants off next and then pulled you half down, lifting your leg up with a bend at the knee. Your concentration was appropriately stolen as he entered you- feeling his cock press deep inside with little warning other than the repositioning.

“ _Oh_ -“ Danny took the noise from your lips to his, reaching down as Mark slowly slid out and then just as slowly back in. The pad of his finger touched teasingly over your clit and that was enough to wipe your attention completely. You arched back against the bed and you swore you heard their doubly-breathy-exhales of amusement. Overtaking you.

You tried to pull it together long enough to touch him again and his head fell to your shoulder once more. His actions stalled but Mark carried on, making it harder and harder, the more his gentle lovemaking devolved into fucking, to focus. But you kept on, taking Danny right to that edge as you tilted your head to the side to kiss him again. Or at least try to. His lips were just as parted as yours were, breathing hard. Groaning. “Fuck- babe-“ The only warning you got before he came, hot liquid trickling between your fingers.

Mark hummed something exquisitely hot above you, drawing closer as he arched down. His lips brushed over your neck and you lost your focus again, anticipating every time he drew out only to move back in so that you could edge your hips up to pull him in deeper. When Danny got a hold of himself and you felt him caressing your inner thigh, touching over you, fingers softly against your clit that was more than enough. “I-“ Breath hitching as your head fell back.

“___-“ Your name spilled from Mark’s lips as you took him with you as you came. Feeling him pulse, coming as your entire body twitched around him. Begged him for just a little bit more. Sensing the soft sparks Danny caused as he dragged his lips down your shoulder, taking you all the way through that ride as Mark’s movements slowed before stopping.

The glow set in just as you went limp- back against Danny and Mark settled just as limply down over you. A few ruffles came from the table beside as Danny slid all the way down to lie back, wadding a few tissues over your hand before tossing them back. Too tired to do much else. You all were. In that happy exhausted pile you loved so much. Heavy panting soon turned to deep breathing.

“What about tomorrow?” Mumbling as your consciousness waned. This was the exact scenario you didn’t want. It’d be busy tomorrow. People would surely notice if you three left together.

“Shut up.”  
“Shhhh....”

The guys, apparently, didn’t have it in them to care. Not after all that.  
There was enough satisfaction in that alone to send you to sleep in their arms with content, warmth- and an easy smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo-ah! That's spicy.


	6. Chapter 6

Showers in hotels were never satisfying. They’d probably never be. You had tried to make peace with this fact a long time ago. The poor thing about it was, after a night like the last, steamy hot morning showers were one of the things you looked forward to the most. That just wasn’t in the cards, so you didn’t linger like you usually did. But you did give the boys ample time to get up and go one at a time. It was still early yet, the hallway wasn’t making a lot of noise, so things should have been fine. Of course after being strict about getting up and going to your individual rooms you’d all ended up together anyway. Of course.

Getting out, towel around you, and another one being used to swab at your hair you saw the both of them sitting on the floor. Mark was actually in between Danny’s spread legs while Danny was leaning over his shoulder to look at something on his phone. “Get out already!”

Both heads shot up and looked in your direction. “Aw, what’s the matter baby?” Danny was grinning like an idiot. Which was already a bad promise of things to come.

“Don’t you want to take showers? Don’t you want to- I don’t know- not be caught in the same clothes as yesterday?” Normally you’d think people wouldn’t be so observant but the way the both of them looked screamed ‘I had a threesome last night’. Or at the very least like they’d fucked each other. Which, fine, maybe people could start speculating about them and leave you the hell out of it.

...but not really. That wasn’t what you wanted.  
They looked absolutely like they had sex the night before, though. Danny’s hair was even wilder than usual and Mark was just a touch off crisp and casual. Too relaxed, too. Did they really not care anymore? “Do we look that bad?” Mark asked, tugging on his open flannel shirt a few times for emphasis.

You just put your palm to your forehead before smoothing it back through your wet hair- letting go of a big dramatic sigh. Then you went over to the dresser to retrieve your phone.

**> Pick up please**  
Barry was an innocuous choice. The three of them walking down the hall together wouldn’t make as much of a scene. You hoped. You could already hear laughter in the hallway. Packed. It was getting crowded.

**> They causing trouble?**

You leaned your hip against the dresser as Danny and Mark went back to browsing the phone, giggling to themselves about something.

**> What else do they ever do?**

**> Yes ma’am omw**

“Barry is coming to get you.” Just one more day. Couldn’t they keep it together for one more day? It was almost like they were doing this on purpose. And for all you knew they probably were.

“We can go up to our rooms by ourselves.”  
“We’re not children.”

You just cast a very dirty look down at them. Clearly they could not go or they would be gone. But what was the point of saying this? They’d just have something else to say about it. So you turned your back on them to go into your suitcase and pull out some clothes. Their attention was suitably distracted as they both burst into loud laughter- probably about a dumb cat video, knowing them.

So you took your chance to get dressed while they wouldn’t cause even more trouble. Although spending the morning like that... no. No. Bad idea. Once you wiggled into your jeans and stepped into your shoes you went back to towel drying your hair. A knock came at the door and Mark slid up on his legs and offered his hand to help Danny up. “Good. Goodbye.” Said dryly as you pulled the door open-

Revealing not Barry but a crowd of people. “I knew I heard them in there!”

You were almost quite literally caught in the headlights.  
Oh no.  
Someone had heard Mark and Danny-

So many phones were being held up. There you were. Standing there with wet hair and two guys behind you. “Uuuuuhhhh HEY ladies and gents! Can we do something for you?” Mark moved straight forward to try and deal with the situation while Danny pulled you back. “Here to invite us to breakfast? I’ll have you know I take my toast almost burnt and eggs scrambled!” He half closed the door, standing in the rest of the frame to take up as much space as possible.

You shrunk back. Oh god. Oh no. One more day. You three couldn’t go one more day? This was... almost impossible to deny. Danny’s hand found yours and he gave your arm a little swing to try and break you out of your thoughts. What to do now? Tell them all to leave? No chance. They wouldn’t. No doubt videos and pictures were going up on every single social media site available. The three of you. Two undoubtedly post-sex in the morning and you fresh out of the shower.  
Unbelievable. One more day. Couldn’t manage one more day?!

“Oooh huh-hey! Look! A Game Grump in the flesh!”

“I’ve been spotted!!” You could hear Barry’s voice very close.

And while everyone else was suitably distracted Mark took your other hand and yanked you out the door and down the hall as quick as possible. Into the other elevator and then slammed the door shut button. It took all of three seconds for the elevator moving for you to lean forward and hammer in the big red stop. The elevator ground to a halt, sending you three up on your toes a second before total silence washed over. After that you put both your hands to your face.

“So- uh... did you just summon the fire department..?” Mark was the one asking.

“If she did there’d be an alarm. It’s likely this one isn’t actually hooked up to a system.” Danny answered for you, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed.

“Oh. Good- ‘cuz I mean-“ Yeah, you got what he was saying. Make even more of a scene. You honestly hadn’t been thinking about that too hard. You just didn’t want to have the doors open and even more people come in to bother you.

You wilted back, taking a deep breath.  
Think about it.  
Not only had you been caught but you’d fled the scene. That implied immediate guilt. You could try and bend around it any way you wanted- oh, you didn’t have makeup on, you didn’t want to be caught by crowds, they were just leaving- yeah right. No one would believe you. And the more you denied it the worse it would look.

“Danny will probably be fine-“ You started talking out of nowhere. Thinking out loud. “NSP. They eat that shit up. Grumps? I dunno... Mark I dunno... I don’t..” You didn’t want them to lose what they’d worked so hard to get. Subscriber base was so important. And if enough people made a fuss, didn’t approve... you’d be stealing away their dreams. Their futures.

“First of all,” Mark said in almost a grand gesture, sweeping his hands outwards, “You’re underestimating our communities.” This was probably true- especially of Mark’s. Those people were very, very nice. Loving. They were always trying to look out for him. Telling him to take breaks. Giving when he asked. Helping each other. They’d probably be fine with it. Even those that weren’t at first would probably eventually come around- but that was a lot of ‘probably’s. Grumps you couldn’t say. Those people were in and out and in and out. There were too many tiers, too. Reddit, tumblr, youtube- they all seemed to be split factions. “Second of all-“

“Second of all you’re not really understanding what’s going on here.” Danny stepped in. You looked up at them both- a little helplessly so. “We don’t wanna hide.” ...they didn’t? But-

“And the people that don’t like it can go. The people that care about us will stay. That’s all that matters.”

This was so ... them. Honestly. Genuinely starry-eyed. Wanting for the best- hoping for the best. But the world wasn’t always like that. And if this hurt them greatly they’d regret it. You didn’t want to be that for them. Their regret.

“Besides, our personal lives should have no impact on making dick jokes over gameplay.” This got a little laugh out of you, but was it really convincing enough? Sure that was true. Sure people had no right to care about your lives in that manner- especially a negative one. But. But...

“We love you. And we love us.”

“You guys...” Before you had room to really say how you felt they came in to take you in a warm hug. You leaned your head in, closing your eyes. “-are so stupid.” This was stupid. Dumb. But what choice did you have anymore, really? And if it’s what they wanted- and what you wanted- ...and you did..

“Yeah but. We’re your stupids.” Mark said this and Danny followed it up with a giggle.

One of them, you were still too consumed in the hug to see, pulled the button out and let the elevator take you all the way down to the ground floor. Then you walked out, hand-in-hand-in-hand. Coming back later to get the bags would happen eventually. The rest of the day was reserved for the con floor. Unashamed. Unhiding. Unafraid. Almost- but mostly.

People took notice almost immediately. And finally-

“Are you dating??” When this question came around-

“Yeah.” Almost like a unanimous group decision. Even with the cameras up and recording.

“Which one?” The confusion seemed obvious because this wasn’t a thing that was considered normal-

But the three of you just exchanged glances and smiles alike and then answered- “Yeah.” Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Yeah. You were dating.  
Yeah. Them.  
Hell yeah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hell yeah indeed!!


	7. Chapter 7

The boys were off at the studio, and would be for another hour or so. There was no point in ordering dinner just yet, and it was entirely too hot to cook. Your own channel already had things in the queue for the entire month so you weren’t really worried on working for new content. Though... becoming lazy and taking too many breaks was always the sign of a sure and swift downfall. But one day’s break wouldn’t do any harm. Even if you had spent the entire day loafing around-

Well. A little more than that. Ever since the shenanigans at the convention center, you’d been trying to keep on top of things that you really shouldn’t have. Twitter, youtube comments, reddits, tumblrs... you were lurking. Just about everywhere. It wasn’t a secret anymore, your relationship. The internet had had a full week to process the pictures and direct quotes- the one or two videos of the damnable evidence of a freshly showered you and a not-so-fresh look two men standing behind you. You’d come out. That was it. And figuring out how much damage it was going to do was important. Even if there was nothing you could do about it either way.

Even if they’d both told you to knock it off and leave it alone.  
When did you ever listen?

The good news was that, even if it was super early at only seven days, you hadn’t seen much of a drop in either subscriber base. Sure, people were talking about it- but no one was walking away. And that was simply because, as they’d said, it had nothing to do with their channels. You were sure the people that supremely disagreed with it would have taken an issue if Danny or Mark were talking about it all the time, but they hadn’t brought it up on the channels- and wouldn’t. Personal and professional lives were meant to be separate for a reason. So that seemed to be working out fine.

For now.  
Who really knew what might happen in a month.  
Or...

Your phone chirped on the corner of the desk and you expected to see one of their names there. Instead it was an unidentified number- but close area code. “Hello?”

“Ah- great! Hello, this is Ms. ___ right?” The voice was someone you’d never spoken to before, this you were sure of. Telemarketer?

“Yeah. How can I help you?” Surely selling time shares...

“Look- this might be a bit presumptuous and I apologize in advance, but are Mr. Avidan and Mr. Fischbach with you at the moment?”

Your blood ran just a few degrees colder. “Excuse me?” Who the hell was this?

“Sorry. My apologies. I’m having trouble getting into contact with either of them and so I assumed-“

“Who is this? Why do you need them?” Why call you? What the hell was going on?

“Oh-!” He sounded startled. “Right. Sorry! I’m so sorry. I probably should have led with that. My name’s Devon Arastar. I’m the lead in the YouTube Analytics and Development department.” This. This was. Not. Good.

They couldn’t, right? They absolutely could not punish anyone’s channels for what had happened. For the lifestyle you led. They couldn’t. Right? “Uhm- okay. How can I help you, Devon?” Trying to play it cool but now you were terrified.

“So they’re not with you?”

“No- not right now. What is this about?” You tried so hard not to get agitated with him. Was he a lead? He sounded like an intern. So unprofessional. In fact, so entirely unprofessional that this sounded like a prank call.

“We were very interested in getting a hold of all three of you for a meeting. We wanted to discuss the potential future of your channels.”

You sat back in your chair, the creak probably audible over the phone. “I’m sorry- are we in trouble?” You couldn’t help but ask. You really couldn’t. Because this sounded like a lot of trouble. But they couldn’t- they couldn’t hurt you for this. Right? Not Mark. Not Danny...

“No no!” He laughed a few times. “No trouble. It’s a very interesting prospect, but it’d be hard to get into it on the phone, and especially with your other partners unavailable.”

Partners.  
He called them...  
Your heart eased a little. “Okay. Well... I’ll talk to them as soon as they get in. When is the meeting?”

“We were hoping for Wednesday at two P.M. if that works out for everybody?” That was soon. Sooner than you would have liked. Especially for something so sudden.

“I’ll have to talk to them about it.” Whatever it was, it didn’t really feel like you had a choice in the matter. What if you said no and they really did start punishing you guys for it? They could. They had that power. You felt defeated already.

“Okay. Thank you very much! Let me just give you my callback number to confirm. Do you know where the YouTube Space is?” Their offices. You’d only been once or twice- and really just as a tagalong. ...and the Summer Of Arcade.. the best day of your life.

“Yeah. Yeah I know.”

Once you scribbled down his information and he was gone you absolutely threw your phone onto the desk. As if it was burning your face- but that was probably just your face itself. You’d gone hot during that entire conversation. It was hard dealing with people normally, but that had been... a little too much. The prospect of what was coming was giving you anxiety.

Without really thinking about it you pushed away from the desk and scrambled onto the balcony. Fresh air. Deep breaths... They couldn’t punish you. Wouldn’t. It had to be illegal, right? And as long as the three of you didn’t all try to get married, there were no laws against what you were doing. Sure, people might not agree with it- definitely those ones that didn’t understand it- but...

“Hey, you alright?” You must have been standing on the balcony trying to control your breathing for a lot longer than you realized. Mark was leaning in through the doorway, his hands bracing the frame up top.

“Did you guys get a strange call today, too?” He’d said he hadn’t gotten into contact with them, but he’d probably left a voice mail, right?

“Uh- actually. Yeah. Same number on our phones. You too?” Mark came out, leaning on the railing with you as the both of you looked down at the city.

“What did he say?” You had to try and get a better understanding.

“He?” Danny had come out. “So you talked to this guy?” Wow. So this Devon hadn’t left anyone a voice mail. Just rang them a couple of times and then rang you. This was entirely unprofessional.

You hung your head. “He said he was from YouTube’s Analytic and Development department or something. He said he wanted to talk about our channels.”

Though you weren’t looking at them you felt the tenseness that suddenly erupted. The same kind you’d dealt with on your own while speaking to this guy. Danny and Mark exchanged worried glances. “-and then what?” Mark was the one asking.

“I asked if we were in trouble. He said no. He called whatever he wants to talk about an ‘interesting prospect’. And they want to have a meeting with us.” This all felt so wrong. There could only be one reason they wanted to talk. This wasn’t just a coincidence. But what to talk about regarding your relationship? Ask you to never talk about it again? Very interesting indeed.

Danny leaned out with the both of you, cupping his hands together. “Did you say yes?”

“I felt like I wasn’t given much of a choice- but not directly, no. I said I had to talk with you guys first.” You sighed out. And then- “...he called you my partners.” This guy was weird and a little flighty and definitely unprofessional but... he hadn’t sounded like he was trying to hurt you. Then again, maybe that was all part of the game.

“Well technically speaking that _is_ what we are.” Mark turned around to lean his back against the railing with his arms up. “So I guess we’re going huh?”

“Two P.M. Wednesday.”

“Whatever this is,” Danny was shaking his head before he turned up, smiling at you, “I’m sure it can’t be that bad.” His optimism was usually infectious. Not today, though.

“Yeah. Yeah! It might even be really good. Like an ad deal or something.” A polyamorous ad deal? You doubted it.

Drink Coke, it’ll make banging two other people totally acceptable!

Ugh.  
You just pressed your lips together. This was happening whether you wanted it to or not. And you’d warned them. This was probably exactly what you’d warned them about. The trouble. This was trouble. But what was the point of saying ‘I told you so’. The three of you had felt so happy being free.

Whatever this was...  
“No point in stressing about it, I guess.” Even though you were saying that, you were going to stress until the day the meeting came. There was just no way around that. “What do you want for dinner?”

“I was thinking about some yummy chinese.” Danny sounded famished.

“Oh yes. Agree. Sweet and sour pork. I’d do anything for some sweet and sour pork right now.” Mark was rubbing his hands together.

You looked up, listening faded out, but you watched the two of them verbally go over the entire chinese menu together without even having to look at it. Smiling with each other. Bumping hands and arms. Excited about the prospect of dinner. Your boys.

And yet all you could think about was what hell you may have just unleashed for them.  
This was trouble.  
You could feel it in your bones.  
And how absolutely sorry a feeling that was.


	8. Chapter 8

Trying to keep an open mind going into the meeting was too hard. Basically asking you anything while trying not to dissolve into a puddle of panic was asking too much. You’d told them that going on. But they were there. There for you- and with you. No matter what happened, they’d said. But then again. All three of your futures could quite possibly be about to be destroyed. Who knew. 

You held both their hands all the way up to the conference hall- which seemed a little silly. How many people were supposed to be in this meeting? ...hopefully not many. You couldn’t take the stares. How stupid you’d been. Thinking being free felt nice. This felt terrible. 

When the woman led you upstairs and opened the door for you the other two stepped inside first, letting go of your hands. There was a long table in this long room with a white board in the front. The view of downtown was really nice this high up, to be sure. Two other men and one woman were waiting for you; all stood and shaking of hands begun. 

“We’re really glad you guys came.” Devon spoke- you recognized the voice. He was a short man in an ugly suit, too many bright colors. His dusty blond hair was spiked up with gel and he had tiny framed glasses. 

“No problem, man.” Danny said, keeping it casual. 

“This is my associate, Linda.” A medium height woman in a smart looking suit. Long red hair and a nice smile. “And this is Joel.” Another sharply dressed person that put Devon to shame. Black hair in a none too unusual haircut and blue eyes. Once you all had been introduced everyone sat down. You clutched your hands in your lap, under the table where no one could see.

“So, what are we talking about here?” Mark asked, getting a few awkward laughs out of the other three. 

“Good. Yes. Let’s get right to the point!” Linda seemed overly excited. “We think that due to the recent development of your relationship coming to light, we have some very real opportunities on the table.” 

“Opportunities?” You asked, trying to keep the offense out of your voice. Maybe your first inclination to that word was wrong. ...you hoped it was. 

“Yes. Well. We’re always trying to promote new and unusual things within our services because that really grabs at people. And what with some of the faces in your group being so popular, we knew we had to at least try and ask for your permission.” Devon was just as unprofessional as usual. ‘Some of the faces’. He meant Mark and Danny. As far as you were considered- or. Well. You weren’t being considered. 

Which was annoying. And insulting. 

Danny sat back casually, folding his arms. That he looked a little less than impressed made you feel the slightest bit better. Mark, however, was leaning in. Then again, he always had the most respectful business sense out of the three of you. “Permission for what?” So you were content to let Mark do all the talking. 

“We really think it’d be great if you three opened a new vlog channel- have you seen the Shaytards? People love watching families. Especially very unusual ones!” That word kept being used. God you hated it. “They average a lot of viewers- and make a decent living sharing their life! People love to live a little vicariously. It’s a well known format.” 

No. No no no.  
They wanted to use you for hits? Throwing money on the table was only meant to incentivize it for you. But this sounded awful. Gross. To open up your entire life in day-to-day vlogs for the publics’ amusement? You weren’t animals in a zoo. 

“I can see that you’re really uncomfortable.” Joel finally said something. “But let me just... try and explain the world of good this would do for our community.” 

Oh.  
So he wasn’t an exec. He was...  
Worse. 

“People don’t understand this yet- but they can. And if they saw how normal you three are, doing normal things on a day to day basis. Living your life. Happy. Being happy- our community could grow. You would be doing so much...” 

You looked away almost instinctively. This was a guilt trip. You didn’t sign up for this. To be the face of polyamory. It wasn’t what you wanted. God. This was.... none of this was what you wanted. 

“This is- look. Like.. this is really amazing as an offer- but-“ Danny was trying to speak up. 

“We would back your channel one-hundred-percent. We’d put out push notifications and make sure you hit the front page at least once a week.” Devon was tapping his hands on the table. “It won’t take much for it to get popular, I mean, not with-“ Gesturing to the two men. 

“And you guys can do a Q-and-A session every weekend. That’d be a really nice format. And if you need help with editors we will absolutely hire one for you- no cost to your channel.” 

Devon and Linda were in it for the money. This was a shitshow waiting to happen and they knew it. Aside from the huge draw of Mark and Danny’s communities, there was the inevitable storm that would come. And that always guaranteed millions upon millions of hits. Even people who hated it would watch just to comment about how much they hated it. It was like printing money to them. 

And Joel... While Joel might have had good intentions it just wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right to ask this of you. 

“This is a lot of information to take in at once.” Mark said, laying his hands flat on the table. “I think we need to take a few days to discuss it.” When the people nodded he added in, carefully, “Uh. Alone. Take some time to process the pros and cons.” 

“Oh. No problem. We totally get it.” The sudden flatness in Devon’s tone said that he did not, in fact, get it. He’d probably promised someone that the zoo could start as soon as tomorrow. 

Fuck. Devon. 

“We’ll keep in close touch.” Linda said, standing thankfully so that the rest of you could. 

While Mark was taking down numbers that you hoped you’d never use- so that you’d never see these people again in your life- Joel stepped over to you and Danny. “I know this seems a little crazy- presumptuous- and I know it’s uncomfortable opening up yourselves to everything,” Oh god. Stop talking. Stop talking! Don’t you get it?! “But it’s not just about the poly community. This could do wonders for LGBT as a whole. Because of-“

“Mark and Danny. Yeah I get it.” This finally bled out of you in one angry, tight statement. 

“There is no just Mark-And-Danny.” His arm came around your shoulder, almost protectively. “It’s all of us.” 

Joel’s hands came up. “I totally get that. I just think... I just think... you should really consider this. You’ll make a lot out of it. And so will your fellow community.” 

You felt hot tears prickling at the corners of your eyes. You hadn’t cried out of frustration in a long time. But it was coming. Childish though it may have been- but it was also anxiety. And anger. And... everything. You weren’t some spectacle. They weren’t. All of you... 

To keep from bursting you had to hold your breath. Weren’t you an adult? This was silly. Just tell them no and move on with your life. But as soon as you sat down in the back seat of the car your hands went to your face and the tears spilled out into your palms. You tucked your knees up to your chest to further hide. 

The two of them sat in the front, leaning back in their chairs, sharing stares. “Fuck them, right?” Danny offered, running his hand over your leg and giving you a small pat. 

“Seriously. Let’s just forget today even happened.” Mark’s hand made the same path. 

You wheezed out a pathetic sob and before you knew it you were being squeezed in between their bodies. Weeping in the back of Mark’s car in the YouTube parking lot. What a mess. “I can’t-“ This was so frustrating. So unbelievably cruel. You’d never really had to think long and hard about the fact that people saw you as a third wheel. Mark and Danny. Always Mark and Danny. The fucking Mark and Danny show. 

God damn.  
God damn it all. 

“Seriously- god. Fuck them. This was such a waste of everyone’s time.” Danny sounded pretty agitated. 

“They were talking to us like you weren’t even there.” Mark was shaking his head. 

You knew they understood- they did. They always did. 

“If they could they would’ve had only you two come in.” Your crying hadn’t stopped but you wished it would. What right did they have to make you feel this way? 

Devon was a scumbag. And if they’d gotten a hold of them first he never would have even called you. 

“Yeah, well-“  
“That’s not the way this works.” 

This eased a bit of your pain. No matter what you always had them. You didn’t need anyone else to understand it. They understood. You understood. You felt what you felt- and they didn’t want to be a part of anything you weren’t. They didn’t even want to associate with anyone who couldn’t give you the respect you deserved. 

You felt your tears slowing and you pressed your fingers to your eyes to try and soak up the last of them. Taking a deep breath in, then out... “Thanks. I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to get so disgusting.” Overemotional. Dumb. Dumb dumb dumb...

“It’s fine. They were assholes.”  
“Such assholes.” 

When you looked up they were both smiling at you. So you tried one in return. “They don’t know what they’re really asking for anyway. It’d just turn into the dickfarts show.” 

“Oh damn-“ Mark was in the middle of maybe having a thought about this while Danny just devolved into giggles. “That would be hilarious.” 

“And SO not what they want.” Still giggling to himself. 

It wasn’t what they wanted. It just sounded like they wanted some sort of weird new nuclear family. Two dudes and maybe that one girl no one knows. Grocery shopping. Buying clothes. Making dinner. Singing songs to each other about christmas and who knew what else- the perfect picture- that was what Joel wanted to. To show everyone how NORMAL you were.

...but you three were anything but.  
And. Honestly. Supremely immature. 

Hm... maybe this show had more merit than you originally gave it credit for... “The dickfarts show. I kinda like it.” 

“Let’s get as ridiculous with the demands as we can and see if they’ll still take it.” So. At least they were on the same page!

“Oooo-“ Mark was tapping his fingers together in a pseudo-evil-pyramid. “This is gonna be good.” 

Not normal.  
Super immature.  
...and also apparently evil masterminds. Wonderful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to gauge the interest of this page having a tumblr? It'd just be full of Danny stuff and whatever I feel is cool enough to post as a snippet preview when I'm writing. If people are into that please let me know! It'd also be easier to answer questions and interact with you guys through that medium I'd imagine. Anyway, just tell me what you think!


	9. Chapter 9

“So if you sort of cradle the bottom of the map here after the input you can-“ Right in the middle of a delicate glitch while filming, being the show off that you were- or trying to be, your email pinged once. Then again. Then a third time in rapid succession and the suddenness of it completely screwed up the timing. It threw your commentary off and completely busted up what you were trying to accomplish. “God damn it!” You ran your hands back over your head, pulling the headset off and throwing it to the desktop. If nothing this would be good blooper footage or end slate footage but all you were suddenly feeling after setting it up for your viewers was severe frustration- especially when another email slid right into your inbox with a chipper noise.

“Everything okay in here?” Mark popped his head in through the door. You weren’t one to throw fits in the middle of filming.

You clicked off the recording and then pulled over the window for your email. “Yeah yeah.” This was mostly your fault. If you didn’t want to get caught unaware things should have been shut off but you hadn’t really been paying attention. Besides... who emailed four times in a row? That was no coincidence. “Wait-!” He was halfway into disappearing with a shrug of his shoulders, not wanting to bother you, but the name on the emails was enough cause for alarm.

“What’s up?” He poised his arms on the frame of the door, leaning casually in to get a look at your screen from the right.

Devon’s name flashed in all four- with stars to boot. Thinking himself supremely important to warrant such a thing as marking it urgent. You three hadn’t spoken to him in a week. While going on and on about diabolical plans to try and squeeze every last penny out of them was fun... it just wasn’t worth what you’d actually have to do to get it. “I guess I should have told them we weren’t interested.” It probably would have saved this little moment. But shouldn’t radio silence have said just as much?

“Ugh.” Mark’s voiced his disgust with just as audible an eyeroll. “What’s he want?”

“You probably should check your email. I mean if he’s trying me he already tried both you and Danny.” Knowing him, no doubt. Since you weren’t really a part of the equation more than the awkward third wheel. The first one was just saying that he hadn’t heard from you and was wondering where you guys had landed.

The next one was saying he had some contracts ready, if you wanted to look over them.  
Then he actually sent them in the third.  
And the fourth was a passive aggressive note to get back to him finished with an exquisite smiley face.

After actually opening the impressive two-hundred page .pdf contact your eyes glazed over. “Oh how I hate lawyer speak.” Mark was shaking his head, smiling to himself. “Just tell him it’s over.”

That was exactly what you should have done. But... A derisive snort came from you. “Oh- so these paragraphs talk about how they’re the sole authority of the brand deals, when and if any come in, and for vetting them out.” You could read lawyer-speak. You hadn’t in years, but... you could. “Oh look at this one! Their editing team of choice gets say over final cuts that we’re not allowed to see!” This was buried under very carefully crafted wording. That was all contracts were. If you didn’t have a lawyer or someone who could parse through it for you, you’d end up signing your rights away.

“Unbelievable.” He was half-interested- only because you were. And he wasn’t entirely sure why you were still entertaining the idea. He certainly didn’t want to leave you alone in the room while you were.

“Oh my god.” You dragged your mouse down one of the latter clauses. “This one says they’ll have authority over the level of sexual activity we show!”

Another noise of disgust dropped out of his mouth and he waved his hand. “Just close it already. This is terrible.” Beyond. They were treating you like animals. Trying to squeeze every last ounce out. Trying to basically own everything you were. Without realizing it you were deleting and retyping. Reforming. You could make this so much better. Get everything you wanted. At least until- “___.” Mark said your name in a warning tone.

Your head popped up and you smiled apologetically at him. “It’s been a while.” Getting consumed in legal speak was like second nature what with how you’d thrown so much of your time in money into learning it. Something about it was addicting. Trying to get everything you wanted. Trying to one-up the other team.

He crossed his arms. “Alright. Well. You can fool around if you want, but I thought we’d agreed we weren’t doing it?” He didn’t sound as convinced as he probably wanted to.

And neither were you. “I don’t know...” After you whined this out he tilted his head down, eying you seriously. “If we did it on our own terms it could be fun.” Your lives were, more often than not.

“When did you change your tune?” This was an important question. Because that whole meeting had been a farce. They’d treated you lower than dirt. Why be any part of that?

But that was exactly why.  
Exactly. Why. As well as... other things. “I wanted to pretend like none of it mattered. But it kinda does.” Texts. Phone calls. Disapproving family. Disappointed family. Maybe if they could just see- if they could just get a visual of how happy you were. Not just them, either. The whole world-

Oh god.  
You were turning into Joel. When had that happened? Probably roughly around the time your mood had plummeted from the negativity you just couldn’t understand. You were so happy. What else mattered than that? “If that’s how you really feel...” He breathed out.

“Look. Not entirely. If you guys don’t want to, then I don’t want to.” Because this was a group decision. Sharing your lives was a huge thing. And they already did a lot of that with their own fans. Could they take upping it another level? Could they risk it, even?

You two shared a long glance that he frowned through most of. “They mean a lot to me.” His fans, he meant. “And I know that this would probably make ‘em happy.” Shrugging his shoulders. “If it helped some of them, too, then great.” He was always looking out for them. Always wishing he could do more. Always humbled by their presence in his life at all. “But it’s still a lot to think about.”

Your nod was automatic, as was the drop of your gaze away from him. “Either way, we have to wait for Danny.” This wasn’t a discussion you could have without him. Then your hands went to your face. “Guh. Am I being completely stupid?”

His hand curved over your shoulder. “No of course not. I don’t think any of us were really prepared for this. And we never really gave it a fair chance because-“

“Oh.” It made sense then. “You two are really mad at them, aren’t you?” For what they’d done. How they’d picked your feelings raw and hard enough to get you to melt down in the car and cry.

“Beyond pissed. You don’t even know.” At least he was smiling as he said this. “If we could spare you from seeing that guy for the rest of our lives, we would have.” Without question, no doubt. And... that was probably the same reason he’d come in to check on you when you’d yelled.

Your emotional state hadn’t been very stable in the aftermath. They were just looking out for you. They were always looking out for you. “I think...” Drumming your fingers on your legs. “Turning this into a the shit show he isn’t prepared for and taking everything I can from him would be the most therapeutic thing that’s happened to me in years.”

“Oh, is that what you think?” Teasing you a little with a tiny knock to the shoulder before turning away. “Think on it some more. I have to pick up Danny from the studio. We can talk about it when I get back.” He was already halfway out the door.

“Will you-“

“Yes we’ll pick up the pizza on the way back.” Smiling at you once last time before leaving you alone to try and fix your footage, boot up the game, and try it again. ...but instead of doing that your attention immediately went back to the contract. You could do better. You could do better for all three of you. And you could take everything from that scumbag.

Mark pulled slowly up to the curb, leaning over the console in the car after rolling down the passenger side window. Danny was leaning up against the door, doing something on his phone. “Hey there mister man. You going my way?” Wiggling his eyebrows in what was probably supposed to be seductive.

Danny’s smile overtook him in time with a little giggle. “If that way is towards pizza then yes.” He slipped his phone into his jacket pocket before opening the door and settling in. Night had come a couple of hours ago and the session had run longer than usual. He was ready for food and bed.

“So... uh..” He had to talk about it before they got back home, but it wasn’t the most pleasant of topics.

“That sounds super reassuring. What bad news is it now?” Danny’s usual optimism had been marred the past few weeks. And for very good reason.

“Devon emailed ___. Four times.” Mark’s fingers drummed against the wheel when he braked for a stoplight.

“Son of a bitch.” Danny’s hands went to his face before going back into his hair. Exactly the kind of bad news he didn’t want. Why couldn’t the power be out at the house? Or they forgot to pay rent? Why this? “What now? Is she okay?”

He nodded. “She’s fine. He uh. Uuhh...” How to phrase this nicely. “Sent her a contract that was full of garbage.” When he glanced over, he and Danny shared a look.

Devon had most likely done this on purpose, and they both knew it. While he was good at pretending like she wasn’t a real person or anyone of importance, he had to have done some sort of reading up on her. She couldn’t resist shit like this. He had to have known. While they hadn’t actually firmly settled on ‘no’, the feeling had been that it wasn’t a good idea.

But now he was baiting her. And it was working.  
The next look they shared was a frown. “Has she fooled herself into thinking this is what she wants to do?”

“Hahah...” A breathy laugh from Mark as he shook his head. “With a healthy push from her family.”

Danny sighed. “Okay. So. It’s whatever. We do the show for a couple of months and then stop. Right?” That didn’t feel right but... how bad could it be? “Most of it will just be us sitting around making dick jokes anyway.”

“Are you really okay with that?” Asking carefully as he pulled into the parking lot of the pizza place.

“Hey. Man. I already make a living doing that shit. As far as image goes, I’ve already like simultaneously hit the bottom of the barrel while still making my family proud of me. Somehow.” He shrugged. So very nonchalantly. In that Danny way of his. “If I’m happy they don’t care.”

Mark inspected him carefully. If he was going to be the only sensible one about this... “Yeah, that’s fine but just remember she wouldn’t want you to do anything that makes you unhappy, either.” His lips pursed a little to the side. “And neither do I.”

Danny leaned back with another heaving sigh. “Yeah? And where are you on all this?” Putting his hands over his eyes.

“I don’t care. I already make an ass out of myself on a daily basis. This is no different.” It wasn’t quite that simple. He knew that. But it also wasn’t worth being concrete about. As long as his partners were happy-

“Soo...” Danny sat back up. “Sounds like we’re doing it.” He pulled the handle of the door so that he could swing his legs out and stand with a stretch.

Mark followed suit quickly after. “This is gonna be the worst thing.” He could feel it in his bones- but worst in hopefully a good way.

Danny’s arm came over his shoulders for a little close squeeze as they walked into the pizza place. “The absolute worst. Ugh. I’m gonna have nightmares about it.” Running his free hand back through his hair. “But she’ll get us a good deal.”

“One plain one pepperoni for pick up-“ Giving his order to the girl working the cash register before turning his head up. “She’s planning on trying to take him for everything she can.”

“Devious little lady.” Danny was already grinning to himself. “I love it.” On second thought- “He fucking deserves it anyway.” Still rubbed raw by the way she’d been treated.

“Hey, you won’t get any arguments from me.” As the pizzas slid onto the counter, he exchanged his card. “...it’ll be good to see her smile again.” She’d been in a weird mood ever since.

“Yeah...” When she wasn’t happy it was like a cloud over the whole house. And she tried so hard. She should get something she wanted, too. He pulled his phone out of his pocket.

**> Bringing home good news and motherfucking pizza**

Smiling to himself as he sent it off. “Really good.” Danny almost couldn’t wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It begins very soon.... be sure to follow the envelopesyou tumblr for cool stuff or something!


	10. Chapter 10

Clean up on the contract had started a couple of days ago, more than enough time to get through several more revisions before actually walking back into that god forsaken meeting room. Mark and Danny were taking a backseat, standing behind and sitting to your left this time, instead of letting you fade into the background- which hadn’t been their fault in the first place, but you were on a mission. And they were going to let you do exactly what you needed to do. The three of you had come down on common ground on the pros and cons and what you wanted versus what you needed. If they refused this you were going to walk, and that was the allure. Because they probably would.

Then at least you couldn’t say you hadn’t tried.

Joel was absent for this meeting which was fine. He hadn’t really had any real part to play except to try and guilt you into doing something for the greater good. Devon and that woman- you’d already forgotten her name- shook hands with the three of you before you sat down and plopped down your finalized contracts. A copy for them and one for the three of you. Just as a read over. You hadn’t sent it to them like they’d asked because you didn’t want them to change it on you or have time to think about doing that.

“So this is...” Without actual lawyers in the room they were going to have trouble parsing through it all. Which was fine. That was what you expected. But they were barely reading any of it, picking from one page to the next.

“Here.” You said with a calm smile, pulling out a page from your own in the back. “This is a clean and summarized version of what we’re looking at.” Sliding it across the table to them. Mark and Danny exchanged a look once before grinning to themselves. “So let’s see...” Where to begin. Pretending like you didn’t know, anyway. You’re rehearsed this speech in the mirror ten times this morning alone. “Mark, Danny and myself will remain as sole owners of the channel, and no other time is anyone authorized by us or allowed to access it or do anything to it.” This was important because whatever changes they wanted to make, if you didn’t lay it down now, they would. “We will figure out our own schedule but we won’t be penalized from straying if things become too hectic. We will do a small Q-and-A series but we’ll decide what days work best for us and we’ll choose our own questions generated from the pool community.”

The last contract you’d read had had them basically saying you were going to be required to answer whatever they put in front of you. Not happening. “We’re going to hire our own editors, but that money will come out of the salary listed on page forty-five. This starting salary covers the basic costs of having to break from the norm of our jobs, and is not to be discussed with anyone outside of this room. There’s an NDA for you to sign on page sixty. This money will be wired into our joint bank account on every second and fourth Monday of the month.” Breezing on by. “We need to be provided with new equipment standard for quality vlogging- and you can talk me down but we’d really like to try out some go-pros.” The only thing you were willing to negotiate on.

“We’ll deal with our own ads and brand deals when if they come and we don’t need a lawyer provided for us to work them out. We have one- Graham. Very nice guy.” You heard a very soft titter from Danny as you continued on through. “We’ll determine the level of relationship status and intimate activity we show- nothing that is inappropriate by youtube standards and we will not be required to show anything past what we’re comfortable or force interaction for the sake of the show or the relationship.” That they even tried to slip this past you was ridiculous, but you needed to make sure they knew you had seen it. You weren’t stupid. “Uh what else what else...” Sighing to yourself. “Polaris is not to pull any videos without our notice first- and especially not to pull them in a panic in regards to songs being sung. Because that’s going to happen very often.”

Not even just Danny, though he was the biggest violator. You all sung when the mood hit and there was no stopping this. That was the whole reason for this talk. This show wasn’t going to be some fabricated reality garbage. It was going to be just you three living your lives. If there had to be rules and restrictions to how you did that then that wasn’t really what you wanted. You just wanted to be you.

“No one is a preferred member- we are a three-person-group and no one person is going to be treated favorably for screen time or otherwise.” This was not the Mark and Danny show. Never. “We’ll handle our own instagram and twitter channel, if we decide to make separate ones, though that’s still undecided. Those accounts are subject to the same terms as the channel.” No outside touching, no tampering, no upload schedule. “The main channel will have one introduction video that we’ll link to our other youtubes at our own discretion and that’s it. After that we’re not advertising it to the outside viewers ever again. No special mentions on anyone’s channel will be made.” They wanted several plugs just to make sure the subscriber base really knew. And that was annoying. “And from no point on are any one of us required to talk about our relationship or the show on our other channels if we don’t choose to.” You flipped through a few pages. “Ah... I think that’s all I have.”

Devon shifted his glasses, noticeably uncomfortable. Even if there wasn’t stuff you had laid out for them bare, there were still things that would protect you in the pages you’d lovingly gone through. He laughed once. “Don’t you two have anything to say?” Trying to say you shouldn’t be leading.

Mark put his hand up once while shaking his head. “Nah. She’s covered pretty much everything we talked about together.” Letting them know that you had, in fact, talked as a group. Because that’s what you were. They weren’t going to take that away from you.

“This is a lot to take in!” The woman spoke, looking up towards Danny before dropping her eyes back to the contract. “We’ll need a little while to go over it...”

“We actually have an engagement. Take a half hour and let us know. If you and your lawyers can’t come to an agreement I’m afraid we’re going to have to walk.” This was it. The final negotiation. Either you were going to take them for everything or you were going to get nothing and go back to normal life. Normal for you three, anyway.

The two frowned at each other before standing. “Yeah- alright. We’ll see what we can do.” They were defeated, and miffed no doubt. It was likely they’d tell you to get out. Maybe that’s what you wanted. With that they got out of their seats and left.

You watched them the whole way out and hadn’t realized that perhaps you hadn’t been in as much control as you thought. Danny’s hands came onto your shoulders to still your shaking. You forced yourself to take a breath and looked back at him. “You did awesome. Oh my god.” Grinning widely down at you.

“Laid down the law!” Mark jutted his fist forward. “Uhn!”

“You think so?” Honestly you weren’t sure. If you had gone in too hard they were likely just going to flat out refuse- even if you were trying to tell yourself that’s what you really wanted. But was it? Instead you just felt embarrassed for going in so hard. Standing didn’t settle your nerves well enough and soon you were pacing. “Maybe I oversold it.”

“They’re gonna do what they’re gonna do.” Danny was trying to offer some sage advice. “Just chill out until they come back.” He looked as cool as a cucumber but that was just his way of life.

There was the expectation that they would take the full thirty minutes. Or, even worse, a little bit more time than that. Just a few minutes to really try and show you who was boss. That was what you were counting on. So when they caught you still pacing, coming back after only ten minutes... you were sure that meant they were ready to flat out refuse you.

Also fine.

But if it only took them that long, had they really read over the contract? Probably not. That was why you were so sure it was a no. They’d gotten a few pages in, even if they had a team of lawyers right now at their disposal, and told them to jump ship. This was not the crew to be involved with. You were ready for the no.

“So!” Devon clapped his hands together, a motion that almost put the fear of god in you. Or was it his sinister smile? “We’re just about ready to hop into bed.”

What? No way.  
No way. How? Why? Why would they do this?

The three of you exchanged a look that had to blatantly read you were not ready for this. “We’re ready to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.” The woman was leaning over the table, signing her name on a couple of pages. “And we’re really excited to see what kind of content you three end up producing!”

Was this considered signing your life away? No. Not really. If you didn’t feel like doing the channel you wouldn’t. That was specifically listed in the contract. If you didn’t feel like making an episode or turning on a camera, you wouldn’t. But part of you knew that at least Mark and Danny’s fanbases would blow this up. They always wanted to see the inside life.

They probably knew this, too. That no matter what you put down, listed as a condition, how you tried to preserve yourselves... they knew that this was too big to not hitch a wagon to immediately. That was why they were agreeing. You thought you’d won but in the end, had you really? Sure it could be fun. Sure maybe it might help some people.

...what was the worst thing that could happen?

Signatures were passed around before Mark stepped in again and you were entirely grateful. Feeling too tired all of a sudden to power lead any longer. “We’ll have Graham put the finals on these by tomorrow morning.” Where to send the stuff, the bank account information-

More shaking of hands. More fake laughter. Then you were gone. Back in the parking lot. This time you didn’t feel like crying you just... weren’t sure what you felt like doing.

“Soo...” Danny was asking, or trying to ask something. But he seemed not to know how to phrase what was on his mind.

“You’re protected. It’s not a three-or-nothing show. If you have somewhere else to be it’s fine.” Danny’s schedule was hectic at best. Sometimes you could tag along, sometimes Mark could. But not always.

He just shook his head. “Not even close to what I was gonna ask. But thanks.” Reaching forward from the back seat to give your hair a little ruffle.

“We can start the intro video whenever you want.” Mark took the car out of park and pulled out of the lot.

“How scripted should it be?” Probably very? Or... not? Off the cuff was better for this, right?

“Oh. Not at all.” Danny sounded sure of this. “This was planned to be the dick joke show so let’s start right out of the gate.” Giggling a little to himself.

Your hands went to your face. “This is gonna be so weird.” You weren’t used to vlogging. None of them really were. Out of all of them Mark had the most experience, sort of.

“Don’t you get shy on me now, missy!” Mark was warning you, albeit playfully.

“Yeah! We’re gonna show the world exactly the kind of shit you have to put up with on a daily basis!”

A sigh left you but it was accompanied by a wide smile that you couldn’t hide with your fingers. “Oh boy.” If nothing else people would realize how sorry they felt that you had to deal with these two idiots constantly. And if anything else besides that... at least someone would appreciate how much you all loved each other.

...right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hop on down to the envelopesyou tumblr for fun and other junk!


	11. Chapter 11

In a lull between waiting for your video to upload you found yourself going to TriHeart’s main page. You did this almost constantly since the three of you had sat down to make the introduction video. Clicking onto the main page had it auto-playing. It was so weird seeing the three of you together like that. That video had been so hard to shoot, despite how simple the idea was. Just sit down. Talk. Lay it out. Done. And you’d managed to do it in just a couple of takes. The first few botched due to nerves. But eventually...

“Hi, it’s Danny Sexbang- Dan Avidan.” Danny was waving gently towards the camera. The three of you had filmed it in the Grump Space. You remembered Arin standing behind the tripod making sure things were running. Dan’s arm came up behind the couch.

“And I’m Mark. Markiplier.” He’d said it in a goofy tone that had managed to lighten your mood just a little. A perk of a smile that was hard for you to watch back.

You watched yourself wave before settling your hands in your lap. Giving your name and your channel. Not that people wouldn’t know who any of you were. Though you probably a little more less so. “And this is gonna be a weird journey.” The only way you’d been able to describe it.

Danny leaned forward. “Uh- yeah. Basically we’ve been getting lots of questions and Polaris is allowing us to do a show and maybe talk about our lives a little bit more.” He was so composed. You really admired it. Wished you could have been like that in the moment. Watching yourself now front facing, you could see how tense you were.

Mark waggled his finger at the camera. “It’s gonna be so dumb you don’t even know.” You watched yourself smile- and Danny, too, looking over at Mark before reaching across the length of your shoulders to tap his.

“We’ll try and do a Q-n-A video next Sunday so leave your questions down in the comments below.” You watched yourself point down. “Even we don’t know what this is gonna be like so we’ll all just figure it out together.” The best you could do, given the situation. The best you could ask of yourself. Of them.

Danny waved again. “Thanks guys. Love you. Bye!”  
“Buh-byyyee!”  
“Until next time.” Short and sweet and to the point.

The channel had gotten three million subscribers almost over night. A lot more pressure than you were expecting. It was the mesh of the guys’ fanbase, you were sure. The video had more likes than dislikes and a lot of positive comments that put the obvious trolls to shame. And the haters. Because you couldn’t really start a youtube channel up without having some haters at the ready. You’d been trying to keep a list of questions, making screen shots of the users who were asking them so that you could edit the video to come together when it happened. -or... rather, give that to the editor. Which was still so unbelievably weird. You’d always done your own work. Mark had for the longest time operated on his own, too. Not that you had anything against the Grumps or Barry or Kevin. Big channels needed that.

Just thinking about people working for you- or more precisely, Polaris, since that’s where the money was coming from, was still a little weird. Regardless of if you’d picked them yourself.

Going over the questions was hard. What could you answer? What did you want to answer? What did the guys want to answer? This was something best done when the three of you were around, but scheduling these sorts of things felt not only difficult but... disingenuous. The whole point of the channel was to showcase your lives for what they were, not for what you plotted or, god forbid, fabricated. And, the other point, was to address concerns. Questions people had about this lifestyle. And the more you scrolled down the page, the more the knot twisted in your stomach.

A knock came at the door just as you had settled your head in your hands. “Yeah?” Muffled through your palms.

First came a creak, then a soft few footfalls, then hands on your shoulders. “You okay?” Mark lowered his voice from whatever excitable reverie he’d been ready to bring in.

“Yeah.” Answer clipped again as you lifted your head up, leaning back against him. His arms looped around your shoulders and he leaned his head against yours. There were a few quick moments of quiet before you spoke again. “Was this a bad idea?” All of it just felt like it was piling up and up and up and there was still so much to do.

His laughter rumbled against you, deep and sweet. “Oh- yeah, of course it was. But we all knew that going in.” Despite your mood you couldn’t help but smile. “I wish I could say that it’s not too late to back out. But...” Drawing the word out.

You just shook your head. “Too late to back out.” Agreeing with him. Things were signed. People were waiting. You couldn’t just bail now.

“But I can help you.” It wasn’t as if the burden was solely on you, or if they’d shafted it straight to you and had walked away to do other things. You’d just sort of decided to do some of the work without asking for their assistance. Clearly he was of a different mind. As usual. “What are you working on?” Leaning down a little more to shift his view to your computer screen, cheek pressing against yours from over your shoulder.

Slowly you scrolled the screen back up through the comments on the page. “Just trying to get some questions together.”

He hummed low in his throat, nodding once. Then he reached with one hand to start pointing. “That one. Oh- that one, good.” A few made him laugh and even though he didn’t designate those you copy and pasted them to your word document anyway. Just for that. Those questions deserved it. “Do you ever get jealous?” Reading one aloud. You’d looked at that one.

Seen it. Thought it over.  
One of the biggest things, apparently, so your hasty internet research had told you, about polyamory, was the idea of jealousy. And seeing that question...

“I dunno, do you?” Even though he wasn’t asking you, you tried to prompt him. Something about it had felt off. And if you were doing a show to help the community... there should be a line between honest and hurtful, right?

“Uhaoh- I meeann...” He started off with the nonsense noises, which meant he was getting uncomfortable. This was exactly why you hadn’t picked this question to blindside them with on the show. “No? Yes but no. Not in a dumb way.” You could hear the smile in his voice. “More like... a dumb puppy way.”

This got a straight giggle out of you. “Are you a dumb puppy?”

He laughed back, turning to press a kiss to your cheek. Then he laid his head to your shoulder. “I like it better when the three of us are together.” Because that’s where you all belonged. You knew the truth of this answer almost immediately. “And there are times. When we’re not... I wouldn’t call it jealous. I don’t know _what_ I’d call it. But I don’t think jealous is the right word.”

He was being terribly honest. Not only did you appreciate it, you knew exactly what he meant. When you realized he was hugging to you just a little bit tighter you scrolled up the page. Better to save that question for a much later episode. Eventually it would be addressed. For the sake of- ...well, many things. Many people. But for now, this first episode should be light and easy. “Okay.” Breathing out a sigh as you reached your hand up to give his hair a ruffle.

The hard crunch of a fresh apple hit the hallway right outside your door and it took only seconds after that for your door to get pushed open again. “What am I walking in on, huh?” Danny came in, leaning his hip against the corner of your desk.

“Mark’s a dumb puppy.” You patted his head again. Danny’s smile was quick, as were a few little giggles as he took another bite of his fruit.

“Oh. Just.” Mark breathed these words out in a sigh as he backed up, shaking his head. “The dumbest.” But he was grinning which was a very good sign that he knew you were kidding.

Without thinking about it, Danny reached over, pushing the side of Mark’s glasses up the bridge of his nose where they’d fallen out of place after leaning over you for so long. “Is that what we’re calling you now? Dumb puppy?”

Almost a little bashfully, Mark’s shoulders rolled back so he could hunch into himself. You smiled at the two of them. “Hey if we’re all signing up for nicknames, I want in.” You would not be left behind here.

“I nominate myself for shagmaster, personally. I think I’ve earned it.” Danny pointed a thumb back at himself before the grin broke over.

“You don’t get to pick your own nickname.” Mark pushed his shoulder.

Before they could devolve into play fighting and noogies that would knot Danny’s hair you motioned towards your computer. “Come here and pick some questions, shagmaster.”

He brought his fist down in a triumphant pump. “Fuck yeah.” Seemingly very happy that the nickname stuck. Coming over, he handed off his apple to Mark so that he could poise his palms on the back of your chair, pressing with only the softest of force. Then he leaned in, resting his chin atop your head. “I don’t have my contacts in.”

Great. So he was useless. “Squint.”

Mark crunched into his apple and handed over his frames. “Here will this help?”

“Oh, thanks.” Danny slipped them over the bridge of his nose, leaning in a little more, pressing against you as he squinted through the glasses. “Okay. Um. -no it’s not really helping.” Finding himself giggling. “Do the one about morning ritual crap.” You copy and pasted it into your file. “And who the big fat blanket stealer is. ___.” Saying your name pointedly to imply your guilt.

“I get cold!” You didn’t have to defend yourself to anyone. How rude.

The two of you shared a soft laughter together anyway and he pressed a kiss to the back of your head before trying to read the screen again. “...what we do for dinner?”

There was about a five second silence before the three of you answered at the same time. “Take out.” Not exactly fast food. Seamless was a god send about making restaurants come to you. And everyone worked too much to sit home and cook most of the time. But talking about everyone’s little food quirks that you all had to work around or agree on could be interesting. ...interesting to whomever cared about that crap. Which apparently was about three million people and counting.

“Is three enough? Am I done?” Asking with just a little bit of a whine.

You waved a hand up. “Yes. I release you.” They’d both helped out so things were fine now. Better than you having to go through everything yourself. Which was hardly ever the case besides.

He leaned back, tipping the glasses off his face and handing them back to their rightful owner. “Sooo... actually- speaking of...” But he sounded like he had something on his mind, too. “I know we have some like. Bullshit footage for the first video. But dinner is approaching and I thought we could...”

Get used to it.  
It was still so hard. Having that camera pointed your way. Not that you’d never in your life before, and Mark did it all the time. But this was so different. Having it pointed at you to film your life. What you were saying. How the three of you interacted. It still felt like you’d caged yourself. Animals in a zoo style.

“Oh- yeah.” Mark handed the apple back, folding his arms. “First we’d have to agree on what to eat tonight.” Some nights it came very easy. But somehow he just knew that tonight everyone had differing opinions. He was always so good at just knowing.

Sliding out of your chair you stood up for the first time in hours, feeling the blood rush hard enough to get you to sway. A pair of hands reached out to stabilize both your shoulders. Worriers that they were. “I keep telling you you can’t just sit down all the time like that.”

Your eyebrow arched in Danny’s direction with a wry half-smile on your face. “Says the man who films on a couch for eight hours a Grump session.” Neither of them had room to lecture you.

“I get up and stretch in between! ....sometimes!”

You took advantage of having them so close at hand, making a bridge between the three of you as you leaned into them. Head at their shoulders as they stood side by side. Their arms came up and around in the trio-hug you’d perfected so well. “I don’t wanna fight about dinner.” You didn’t have the strength to, especially not if the camera was out.

“Who said anything about fighting? When do we ever fight?” The tone in Danny’s voice sounded an awful like like offended. As if you three would _never_ dare to do such a thing.

Mark’s rumbly laugh made a return. “Well- there was that thing just last night-“

“Ugh!”  
“I don’t even wanna talk about that!”

You and Danny shared the same sentiment. This only spurred Mark’s laughter on further. “Just proving a point!”

The three of you had been far from a perfect couple, whatever the hell that was, ever since this started. You were normal. Really. Even if there was three of you. And sometimes things got a little heated when stress took over or you just couldn’t find common ground. Not that- you would ever really call them _fights_. But what you three now considered fights, were happening more often. Just clipped tones and someone giving something up in order to move on. And it was the channel’s fault. Hopefully, eventually, it would just become normal. Until then you had to rely on them and the fact that forgiveness was so easy to find.

To give.  
And to have. Even after a tense moment, things never stayed quiet for long. You three had better things to do than to stay frustrated. Especially with each other.

“So..” Danny chimed in again, leaning back a little, “Chinese?”

“No I do NOT want chinese again for the third night in a row!”  
“Ye- no! Exactly!”

His smile was some mix of bashful and knowing. “I’ll get the camera?” It really helped that the two of them were just as into it. Not simply because they had to be at this juncture, but because they were willing. Willing to go through these hoops with you, with each other, and make it through to the other side. That ‘other side’ had yet to be close to showing itself, but you’d get there. Eventually.

He gave your hair a little affectionate ruffle before leaving the room. At which point you entirely dissolved into Mark’s arms, head against his shoulder. “It’s not there yet,” Said in a quiet but encouragingly warm tone, murmured close to your ear. Your eyes closed. “-but we’re getting somewhere.” You could hear his smile just before he pressed it to your cheek in a careful kiss.

You wrapped your arms around his waist. “I don’t know that I agree with you.” You still felt so far away from anything that made any sense. Or that felt good. But you were starting to think it would never, and you’d just have to make peace with that.

His hands locked at your back, drawing you in at a different angle so you could rest your head in the crook of his shoulder, hands going to his chest. “But we’re not sacrificing much- and god knows we haven’t changed a damn thing.” Which had been a tentative point of thought for a long while. To hold back or not when you had the camera out? In the end it was like that first day of coming out at the convention.

You were who you were. You were together. And the three of you were not ashamed of that. His attitude, as always, pulled a smile out of you. “Still hoping for the best?” Optimism was a rare trait.

His shoulders rolled back as his lips pursed a little. “Hey, if Dan can do it, so can I.” Quirking the corner of his lips in a half-smirk.

An expression you fondly returned when you tilted back to get a better look at him. Your finger pointed straight into his chest, right above his heart. “You don’t always have to do what Danny does, you know.”

As if he knew you were going to say that, probably because he may have baited you towards it, the half-smirk went full on and his hands dropped to your hips. “If I didn’t that would mean I wouldn’t be _doing_ you.” He wasn’t the best at sexy talk. ...for that matter neither was Danny. And neither were you. But these moments were the ones you treasured the most. Just him being his good old goofy self.

“You’re **not** doing me.” Countered with a dry look on your face.

His eyebrows went up. “Am- ...am I not?” Concerned. Perhaps overly so. Or worried.

“Not right now.” There was a linger promise to your tone that you almost had trouble keeping steady. The urge to laugh was growing.

“Oh- oooooohh.” It took a real couple of seconds for this to actually make sense, though. But once it did he pulled you in closer, your hands sliding up the rest of the way before looping your arms around his neck. “Not right now.” Agreeing as he tilted in, a bare brush of his lips to yours. “But when?” A very real and very serious question, if his tone was anything to go by.

Your eyes had already slipped closed. “He’s already thinking about dinner. So after?” You could put Danny off, but if you did, that would be an absolute invitation for him to join. Which was hardly a terrible thing. But something about what Mark had said earlier was really prompting you to try and make the trio a duo for the evening.

This was nothing new. Mark’s feelings, at that, weren’t new, either. And you did know how he felt. It wasn’t as if the three of you spent every waking moment together. There were times when you were exclusively with Danny. Or exclusively with Mark. Or when they were at the studio they were together, and they’d get dinner together and you’d be asleep by the time they came home. -and all of that was probably something that at some point people would catch on to. This wasn’t a permanent three-person-show. That would be insane to keep up with. And unrealistic, besides.

And yet knowing that...  
Mark’s dumb puppy comment sort of really hit it. Sometimes. Thinking about them spending the whole day together, even if they were working- when they got breaks they’d be together. And they’d go out without you. And you knew but that was the way life was sometimes. And it left you in a little bit of a pining lurch. Something that was normal. It wasn’t jealousy so much as it was...

Something else. That’s all.  
He kissed you again, something fuller. It didn’t last for too long, only so when he tilted back he could speak. “After.” When the mood found you and it was right that was all you needed. The both of you. Or in most cases the three of you.

A happy hum left you, vibrating between the both of you as you caught him back in another kiss. But you barely had enough time to do anything worth day-dreaming about during dinner before you heard the telltale creak of your door again. And then the boisterous sing-songing. “I caught something spicy!”

Mark broke back, aiming a dramatically angry look at the camera in Danny’s hand. “Doesn’t anyone ever knock around here?” Drawling his voice out to emulate some definite teenage angst.

“We have a no-knock policy, you know that!” Danny’s giggles filled the room. “How the hell else am we supposed to film this juicy reality tv garbage?!”

Oh your two idiots. Your two idiots and your show.  
How were you ever going to get by?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TriHeart was a name that has been changed around SO much. I had such a hard time coming up with something and staying with it and loving it. I'm still not sure I love TriHeart but a very nice lovely on my tumblr gave me the idea the other night when they made a comment about the return of myself, Mark, and Danny with Skyhill being relatively and strangely coincidentally at the same time. So TriHeart it will be.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey what's this it's a thing.

“Good morning, Trihearts.” Your voice droned out sleepily as you pressed your right hand against your eye, left currently stuck to the wheel of your car as you watched the road. The little camera on the dashboard blinked now and again to remind you that it was on. Rain was coming down lightly, providing nice background noise since you couldn’t have the radio on. “Just heading to the um... the.. post office. Gonna pick up your packages and letters and things.”

You honestly weren’t awake enough to do this but it had to get done. They’d called you the evening before telling you your PO was full up. That happened all the time. Nothing new. They’d actually lent you mail crates to keep up with some of it. And for the space you were paying for, which had been upgraded twice now to something bigger the longer this endeavor went on, they could part with a few plastic boxes. Honestly. “Danny is uh-” Bringing your hand away from your eye to hit your turn signal. “Danny’s still in New York. He’s flying back this morning. Kinda haven’t heard from him since last night.” Busy. Always so busy. It was likely he fell asleep somewhere along the line and just hadn’t had time to do anything else once he woke up. You rolled your shoulders up. “He’ll turn up.”

They knew by now how packed your schedules got from time to time. When in the thick of things sometimes communication just wasn’t as constant. Sometimes they wouldn’t see Danny or Mark. But you’d always be around somewhere. Trying to make sure you had something going. “Mark’s asleep at the house. Probably won’t get up for another couple of hours.”

Learning to talk to the camera had been a difficult process. An awkward hurdle that thankfully hadn’t lasted too long. Some other popular vloggers in the community had offered kind words a couple months back when the channel had just started. It was easier, now. Talking to the camera like it was a person. Holding it up, ignoring the stares sometimes. It was becoming such a common thing in the world now, though, to be talking to your camera at arm’s length. Most people didn’t even care anymore. Mark had had his own two cents on it. Talking to the camera as if you were live streaming that very second. Like the audience was there at that moment. Because they would be, later. And you had to make them feel like they were important.

Because they are.

The channel had grown a bit from where it started. Adding in another two million subscribers on top of the base of three when it was first announced. There was a community here. Regardless of Joel or Devon or anyone that had forced your hand into this. There were people who supported the three of you. Who, perhaps, lived a little vicariously through your lives. Who enjoyed you. Who loved you. -despite the massive shit show it turned out to be sometimes. Which is exactly what you’d expected.

You made a turn into the lot and parked the car. “Alright. Good talk. Let’s see what you guys have been up to!” And with that you pressed the button on the top of the camera, shutting it off and sending the footage to that triple-password-protected cloud space. One password from each of you. Only fitting. The post office had only just opened, no one around to give you a hard time as you walked in and chatted up the older gentleman working the service desk.

\-------

“Gooooood morning Triheart people!” Mark was up and in a great mood, evidenced by that big cheesy grin he aimed right at the camera as he walked around the kitchen. “So ___ just went to go pick up some letters and things- thanks, by the way, you guys are amazing.” Taking that little spare moment to drop his tone and express his sincere appreciation. “She’s been kinda running all over the place for us lately so we’re gonna have a nice breakfast- I think I pulled off pretending to be asleep pretty good so. She has no idea.” At least Mark hoped that was the case. She could be pretty astute when she wanted to be, but he’d been turned away when she got up held his breath when she’d left. A solid act!

“And by we I mean-” He tilted the camera towards the table to reveal a very sleepy looking Danny. “Came in about an hour ago. Didn’t tell her. It’ll be a nice surprise I think.” There were only so many things they could surprise her with. She’d thrown herself in full time managing so many things. She knew what was going on more often than they did- and they were entirely grateful for it.

Danny looked up, smiling in that tired way, eyes half closed. “Oh. Hey what’s up.” Proving just how tired he was with that unenthusiastic timbre. His hand came up to run back through his hair.

Mark came up, putting an arm around his shoulder and squeezing him close. “Don’t mind him. Long early flight.”

“And then an hour of driving around nowhere.” Danny reminded him, leaning his chin on his upturned hand, elbow on the table. Not to mention that the trip to the east coast hadn’t just been family related. He’d been working on other stuff, too. As always. He was tired, and really nothing more he would have liked than to crawl into bed-

...well, almost nothing more. “She’ll be really happy.” Mark reminded him, giving him just a little affectionate nuzzle before walking away.

“Yeah.” Danny smiled to himself then, almost dreamily so. Without his notice Mark turned the camera back in over his shoulder to watch him. To capture the serene look on his face when he thought about her. And then when he’d gotten enough of that turned it back to himself, a similar expression about him, just with a little bit of extra wryness to it. When his partners were off in other worlds dreaming about one another, he was there, dreaming about them. Momentum of happiness pushing him to do one thing after another for them because he loved them so, just like they did him.

He waved at the camera. “She’ll be back soon so we’ll catch you later. Buh-byyeee!” Then he turned the camera to Danny who was busy staring at his phone, waited a couple of seconds for him to notice, and then when he didn’t- “Say bye!”

Danny jerked back a little. “Oh-! Fuck!” Having been startled just a little, and then grinned widely as he waved. “Fucking bye or whatever!” His giggles echoed in the kitchen as Mark cut the feed.

\-------

After having loaded three mail crates into the back seat of your car, seeing as how they wouldn’t fit in the trunk, you sat in the parking lot to take a breath. Thought about turning on the camera, then decided against it. Instead you went to your phone.

_Are you awake?_

Asked to Mark, just to see if you could expect him to help out when you got in. If not, no big deal. You’d probably leave the stuff in your car until he was ready. Because lugging that shit up the stairs didn’t seem like a fun activity.

Then, without waiting for his response, you texted Danny.

_Hope you’re alright. Miss you_

Danny’s response came in first, mere moments after you’d reached out to him. Once you twisted the keys in the ignition to turn the car on you pulled your phone back up towards your face to read it. _Miss you too, baby_

In the middle of rereading that message for the third time, dumb smile plastered over your lips, Mark’s response came in next and you thumbed over to it. _Awake now_

This one made you feel a little bad. You must have woken him up. You typed out a quick response. _Go back to sleep! Sorry_

His answer came as you were backing out of the parking lot and you took a couple of seconds to look at it. _On itzzzzzzzzz....._

Only able to shake your head with a fond smile as you put your phone on the passenger seat so you wouldn’t be tempted to look at it or text either of them back on the drive home. It wouldn’t take long, only twenty minutes or so. While you navigated through the deserted and rainy streets you turned the radio on, singing quietly to yourself. Thought about turning on the camera just for some random footage, but then decided against it in the end.

Rolling up through the driveway you noticed Mark moving around in the living room window, shaking your head to yourself. He must have been unable to fall asleep after your text shook him awake. You’d have to make it up to him with a little morning coffee date or something. The mere thought swayed a happy thrum through your system as you got out of the car, leaving both your phone and the packages there so that you could hurry up to the house.

Getting up the front steps and through the door, thinking of the little place down the street on the corner, you were ready to tell him to come back outside and into the car- so much so that the sentence made it halfway out of your mouth before you realized that it wasn’t Mark standing in the living room.

It was Danny.

Had you seen his car in the driveway? No. Right? He hadn’t said he was on a flight home- he hadn’t even said he was anywhere near!

“Hey little lady.” Smiling at you in that warming way of his right before you practically threw yourself into his arms. Every time he went away, when he came back it was like the first time. First time he was holding you. First time you were welcoming him home. First time being with him.

“You didn’t tell me!” Obvious the surprise he’d set up now that you were standing hypothetically waist deep in it.

His giggles bubbled up above you as he squeezed you. “I almost cracked a few times!” You believed this, too. He was terrible at keeping secrets sometimes.

“Aaauuuwwwwhhh...” Mark’s rumbly warm notes carried through the room and you looked over to see him pointing the camera directly at the both of you.

Danny eased up a little and you looked between them. “You _**both**_ had this planned, didn’t you.” Eying him with an arch of your brow and quite the suspicious look. They were in cahoots. Always in cahoots!

“Maaaayyybeeeee...” Drawling on before grinning and dropping the camera as you stepped away from Danny to give Mark his rightful crush of a hug. He handed the device off so that he could fully pay attention to giving you a full embrace, ducking his head down into your shoulder.

You tilted, just slightly, enough to press a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you.” Murmured quietly. Danny put the camera down on the coffee table and stepped up at your side, easing in as you reached up to put your left arm around him, soaking up the both of them. “It’s good to have everyone home.” Schedules were always so crazy and awful at times. It was rare to have a good long stretch with the entire trio.

“Mnm,” Danny agreed in that soft hum of his, melting almost entirely against you. “I think- I think I really need to sleep for a few hours, though.” His voice carried that ideal quite closely, worn thin and quiet into the crook of your neck. Followed by just a few notes of laughter. That warm and easy sound that lifted your spirits every time without fail.

Mark finally pressed a return kiss to your cheek before reaching up to muss up Danny’s hair. “We’ll join you.” Offering you up without your permission -... not that he needed it. If he hadn’t said that you would have in just another moment.

A playfully frustrated noise came out of Dan as he edged back up and out of Mark’s reach, smoothing back his frizzy curls. “Yeah. Cool. Just don’t do that again.” Reaching down then to do it right back to Mark, messing up that flop of hair he always parted to the side.

“Bah- alright! God!!” Whining as he hunched down and away out of reach, fingers combing back through to fix the new mess.

Your hands reached for theirs, taking them quietly but no less happily, leading them towards the bedroom that had felt empty for days. Just not complete. Not without the both of them. The same way they felt. They fell first as you slipped out of your shoes and then crawled partway on top of both of them, like a happy cat all ready to snooze in the morning sun. Two arms from both men came up over you, securing you close as you laid your head to both their shoulders; Danny’s right and Mark’s left as they slipped under together.

For a moment you resisted, instead deciding to stay awake, basking in the glow that the both of them brought when the were around. Listened to their contented and even deep breathing as sleep took them. So easily so. And when you couldn’t resist any longer, pull you down, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come hang out at the envelopesyou tumblr for stuff and other junk.


End file.
